


Together or Not At All

by devil_enchantment



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Drama, F/M, Romance, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:19:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 53,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11043600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devil_enchantment/pseuds/devil_enchantment
Summary: Hermione Granger has had more than her fair share of near death experiences, it was never something you ever got used to and it seemed oddly inevitable though, facing death as an immortal.





	1. Prologue: Heavy In Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

> This story started on fanfiction.net as Shattered Into Pieces, then became Together or Not at All before finally starting to re-write this fanfiction.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione Jean Granger lay dying, and in what she thought was the final few moments - a certain blonde-haired golden-eyed vampire came across her, having ended up somewhere away from the Battle of Hogwarts; away from Hogsmeade....this is her beginning.

* * *

 

 _"Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse if free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal." – William Penn, More Fruits of Solitude_.

* * *

 

The Wizarding World had been torn apart during the Second War; and the British had felt the full effect of it as the Ministry of Magic had been infiltrated and three people had been on the run for months as they were declared as Undesirables – a criminal wanted wizard by the Ministry among others.

Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1st May 1998 and the Battle of Hogwarts commenced at midnight on 2nd May 1998. It would go down as one of the most brutal battles throughout the war but it would also be victorious for the Order of the Phoenix and those who fought in the battle against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

At sunrise, Tom Marvolo Riddle was defeated and many had been either killed or injured; those who survived were considered lucky, and those who had fought for the Dark Lord were slowly being rounded up – to be imprisoned after trials.

But for Hermione; she was crawling on the cold ground and did not know how much time had passed; all she knew was excruiating pain and how she wanted it to end – she had fought, so hard to survive – to get back to her friends but it was all too much in the end and as she was slipping unconscious; there was a stranger’s voice whispering to her – it was Carlisle Cullen.

"Can you hear me?" Carlisle whispered, as he didn’t know her name yet and knew that his efforts to stop the bleeding were futile and she whispered something, almost too low for him to hear it which made him grimace at what she said.

Everything was different and wrong.

She wasn’t supposed to die like she was; she was supposed to be with her friends and the love of her life, fighting side by side but he had died before the one hour armistice, fighting alongside his brother Percy and had died with a smile on his face.

Carlisle tried to pull her from the ground, she had been laying on as gently as he could but she was in agony at the attempts and she’d tried several times to push him away, as all she wanted was death to welcome her. Her eyes flickered open, and she tried staring at the beautiful face, but found she couldn’t and then her eyes would close again; as it became fuzzy.

The feeling of warmth surprised her, as she no longer felt the cold and she almost smiled as she knew what was coming. Death would be welcoming her soon, then there was something sharp – it cut at her throat and her wrists; the pain was bewildering. More bewildering than the last bout of pain that she experienced and it was like fire blazing through her – getting hotter and she twisted, writhing as she wanted to scream.

"I’m so sorry," said Carlisle who had ran all the way home, with her in his arms as they were living in a country house that was situated five miles inland from Moray Firth with it being the longest amount of hours in his life with him remembering how the move had been questionable at first. Alice never revealed why she saw them moving from the States, over to the Scottish Highlands but now they lived in a seven bedroom country house that was set in rolling farmland with a sheltering backdrop to the woodland in the north. 

If Carlisle hadn't been out or even exploring without the need of a vehicle due to his vampire speed and the bonus of never getting tired; he would have never come across Hermione and he was reminded of the time when he found Rosalie, all those years ago dying in the streets of Rochester after being brutalised by Royce King and his friends with him being grateful of not being able to throw up; as he surely would have if he could. 

"Carlisle?" asked Esme, horrified to see the young woman who was encased in his arms with her having been the one to open the front door, before she had a room set up for her on the second floor of the main house so the woman could continue her transformation. She watched silently as her husband put the young woman down carefully, then watched as the girl began to twitch, begging in her mind and even out-loud to be killed; for the burning to stop. 

Carlisle soon pulled up a wooden chair, after squeezing his wife's hand and then promised Hermione that he would sit with her during the three days of her transformation with Edward listening to her thoughts, disturbed to watch his adoptive father hold her hand as all Hermione could think about except for the pain of course was of the loss that she suffered. 

_‘Kill me...please, why won’t you let me die?’_

Esme pressed her hand against her mouth as she watched her, hearing the words that came out of her mouth after Edward grimaced and it was then that Rosalie joined them, being careful not to breathe too much as the girl was covered in her own blood and her clothes were tattered - the blonde took a deep breath before her eyes stared at Carlisle's face, though he did not look up as he watched the girl; squeezing her hand every so often, murmuring quiet whispers to her. 

"What were you thinking, Carlisle?" asked Rosalie, her tone sharper than it was supposed to be. 

It had been so long since they had a newborn to control, to watch over as Emmett had been the last one to be saved, to be turned after Rosalie pleaded with Carlisle to turn him over sixty-two years prior to the girl being turned and it took several minutes before Carlisle even wanted to look up; to stare at his eldest daughter as he took a few sharp breaths of air.

"I couldn't leave her to die, not like that...it was too much, too horrible..." Carlisle told them; as he glanced at Edward who was reluctant to pull Rosalie from the room but he grasped his sister's arm, as gently as he could, tugging it so the two would leave the room - but before they did, Esme turned to tell them to find Emmett and Jasper while her and Alice would find some suitable clothes for the woman to wear, as they couldn't let her wake up in the clothes she was wearing and her long brown hair that had been pulled into a plait was matted with blood. 

_Let this not be in vain._ _Let this be a second chance for her._

_She’s been tortured, Edward. We saw the marks – there’s... a vulgar word on her arm, I don’t know if it’ll disappear or not._

_She’s suffered so much…_

The thoughts Edward heard during those two days were almost life-changing, the woman’s thoughts were painful to witness as he saw a different world; something entirely new to them and it was heart-breaking to watch what happened in the final hours of her human life.

It did no good for her to scream; and sometimes she forced herself not to scream, not to be reminded of something that had caused her to scream so many times. Being tortured was agony itself; but not being relieved of the fire that went through her veins, that covered her entire body was another torture, entirely.

_If I couldn’t scream, how could I tell them to kill me?_

All she wanted was to die, to never have been born. The whole of her existence didn’t outweigh this pain and wasn’t worth living through it for another heart-beat.

_Please, oh please. Let me die. Let me be with him._

Alice thought of her as a sister, during the time she turned and Rosalie was slowly agreeing with her, though she had her own doubts on if Hermione would stay. Emmett was more than happy to get another sister, and Jasper was happy because of Alice – but he sometimes stayed out of the way, as he felt everyone’s emotions.

Carlisle had managed, eventually to get a name out of her and Esme compared her name to the Greek mythology first as Hermione was the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy, with it causing some debate.

Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie had returned to the scene of the attack and had gotten the belongings that had been left behind the night before but when Emmett tried telling them her name, Alice interrupted and told him that Carlisle got it out of her.

Esme compared her name to the Greek mythology first, as Hermione was the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy, with it causing a small debate between them as they did need to pass the time and were grateful for living in the countryside.

"I think it’s more derived of the Shakespearean name, in Winter’s Tale – Hermione, the wife of King Leontes, and the doting mother of Mamillius and Perdita," murmured Alice who listened to Carlisle tell her new sister everything that she needed to know; despite Edward being the only one who knew if she was listening to him at all.

Sometimes she listened, sometimes she didn’t.

The fire did not decrease in her bones; as she got stronger and her hearing got clearer and clearer, she could count the frantic, pounding beats of her heart to mark the time. She could hear light footsteps, then the whisper of air stirred by an opening door.

"It’s almost over," said a voice that she didn’t recognise and she tried to twist, tried to turn her head to look but she finally willed her body to still, her teeth were clenched as she didn’t want to scream any longer, or writhe and thrash like she had been doing over the two days.

"I can tell," murmured Carlisle who squeezed her hand once more, despite her wanting to pull away; to move from the soothing voice as he was clearly suffering because he made the decision to turn her, instead of letting her die.

Jasper turned his head, to stare at her and he had questioned the decision that had been made, as he had never seen Edward’s or Esme’s or Rosalie’s and Emmett’s transformations or how they were as newborns. He had only known the life before he met Alice – and he silently hoped that it would be different.

"She’s through the worst of it." said Esme who joined them in the room once more, going over to the other side of the girl to grasp her hand as she often sat there with Carlisle, while Hermione was going through the transformation. "It’s almost over, dear."

The pain changed, it started to fade from her fingertips and toes, fading slowly but it was doing something new, and then the fire inside her heart got hotter. The fire in her throat wasn’t the same as before, she was parched, too – dry as bone, so thirsty and the burning fire, the burning thirst…

She didn’t know what was worse.

"I’ll get the others," Alice said, as she had come to stand by the door as it was only Jasper, Esme and Carlisle in the room as she watched her back having arched as if the fire was dragging her upward by her heart with Esme and Carlisle gripping her a little tighter, sharing a look and then her heart was silent.

Hermione’s body was back on the table; she didn’t move or make a sound and her lungs had stopped breathing. There was no breathing and there was no sound then for a moment; all she could think about was the absence of pain.

With bated breath, she finally opened her blood red eyes.

She had pulled away from Esme and Carlisle, after her body responded to the unfamiliar touch in a way that shocked her as air hissed up in her throat, her muscles bunched and arched, twisting away from the unknown and then she found herself crouched against the wall, defensively.

"There’s no danger here! We mean you no harm, Hermione…"

"What did you do to me?" Hermione’s voice was different and her eyes narrowed as she took in all their facial expressions – Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Edward. There were too many of them, and only one of her.

  
"Carlisle." Edward warned, cautioning the blonde who had been by her side, throughout the three days and her eyes flickered over to him, as there was still a burning in her throat, making her so thirsty but it was the sharp reactions that disturbed her the most.

"We won’t hurt you," said Carlisle who stepped around Jasper, walking towards her swiftly, his eyes wary but Jasper shadowed his footsteps and she narrowed her eyes once more.

The words seemed foreign to her, and she didn’t know why she was so angry but it was her body that responded and then she looked over at the bronze-haired vampire; he was the only one who didn’t introduce himself straight away.

Everyone else was introduced to her and in some bizarre way; she thought that Edward looked like Cedric Diggory; as there were memories flashing in her mind and Edward looked a little uncomfortable at hearing her thoughts but there was no time to explain talents to her.

She needed to feed.

"Your thirst must be very uncomfortable," Carlisle apologised immediately, his eyes flickering over to Jasper as they would have to go with her due to the uncontrollable thirst and suddenly, the dry ache in her throat was all she could think about.

"Follow our lead, Hermione. From there, your instincts will take over."

It didn’t take long for her to follow them; though Alice and Rosalie were the ones who stayed behind as they had already hunted and the first time was the hardest, the thirst for blood was uncontrollable and she was reluctant at first.

It was foreign for her and how she hated it, but it was the only way not to suffer and she remembered how Carlisle explained that the first year was always the hardest as her enhanced emotions would be hard to control and she could become angered very easily.

She was determined to satisfy her thirst without causing the animals that she fed on too much pain and Edward told Carlisle that she expected to return – to go back to the Wizarding World but they couldn’t let her.

There would be too much at stake.

They also didn’t know which side had won.

"Do you think she’ll stay with us?" asked Edward, after the first hunt was over and they were going back to the property – with him being grateful they lived in seclusion despite it being the countryside, it was better that they weren’t near any villages.

"I think she will." Esme said, as Hermione, Carlisle and Jasper had already gone ahead of her, Edward and Emmett.

"Why?"

"Edward, if you are trying to get your hopes to get rid of…"

"I’m not!"

"Sure about that, brother?" asked Emmett, having slowed down to turn around so he could face Edward and Esme, he was elated at getting a new sister but knew it would be hard as it was clear to him and to Jasper that the girl had been through hell.

Edward didn’t answer, he felt ashamed of his own questioning – as in his own way, he hoped that Hermione would find peace, and find herself as now she belonged to a new world but he was also torn because of his beliefs that they didn’t have souls.

_How could such a woman not have a soul?_

"Let’s get back," said Esme, glancing at them before they agreed and headed back to the property, listening to Carlisle explain something to Hermione who refused to sit down, she preferred to stand up.

It would be tough for her to adapt, especially since she was still mourning the loss of her old life and thought about how she didn’t die – she couldn’t be reunited with Fred after all, as she was immortal and would suffer knowing that those who she loved…would die while she continued to live.

Carlisle hoped she would forgive him, eventually and not be as bitter as Rosalie was in a certain way but Alice said that she wouldn’t leave them – she would stay, though they had no idea how long she would stay for as they had the task of making sure she was ready.

That she was prepared.

As they couldn’t leave where they were living, to move to another place without her being under control as they would have a hard task of returning to America if they tried so soon.

Hermione was silent for a few days, after she had woken up. She didn’t move; much and it caused Esme to be concerned as she had watched her break several pens as well as pencils as she had been trying to write a letter but her strength was too much – and then her anger followed.

‘She’ll be fine, Esme.’

Alice looked up, as Rosalie reassured her that everything would be fine, that she would move when she wanted to move as she didn’t even speak when they went out hunting; since she needed to hunt more than they did and she didn’t move from the room that Esme had showed her too.

Since Rosalie and Alice prepared the spare bedroom for her, and had added items such as clothing, books and other things that would make her feel more at home. They had also managed to retrieve her belongings and had put the strange beaded bag onto the black chaise longue that they bought for her.

Esme was hopeful that Hermione would tell them what Edward had seen and more; as she remembered the second day of her being awake, and how angry the brunette was at knowing Edward knew what Carlisle had seen when he found her.

It angered her.

‘I can hear you, you know,’ said Hermione who interrupted Alice from speaking after Rosalie had said something else and Esme almost jumped at the sound of her voice, but it had come from upstairs as she was standing still – next to one of the bookcases.

‘Will you please come down here?’

There was no answer.

Emmett almost growled in frustration and Edward tried to stop him, but he had jumped up from his chair and disappeared up the wooden staircase, being careful not to knock any of the canvases that lined the walls down as he disappeared to the first floor.

‘You can’t stay like this forever,’ said Emmett who leaned against the doorframe as the door was open most of the day, with him staring at her as she was looking out of the window at the gardens that Esme had been tending to.

‘I can if I want.’

Emmett stared at her, frowning as he wanted to get to know her rather than just listen to what he was told and he moved into the room; sitting down on the chaise longue which was a long low chair with a back along half its length and one arm.

He decided to share how he was turned with her, hoping it would make her sit down and listen instead of standing so uncomfortably straight all the time; as they slowly taught her how to act like a human again despite it only being days since she was one.

‘He was finished playing with me then, and I knew I was about to die,’ Emmett remembered softly, after telling her the tale of his human years and was to finish it off with how his life was about to end, to be no more. ‘I couldn’t move, and my consciousness was slipping away, when I heard what I thought was another bear, and a fight-over which would get my carcass…’

Emmett paused, looking over at her as she had finally moved, sitting in the black arm-chair that was in the corner of the room; near the bookcases and she was the only one except Edward who did not have a bed in her room.

‘Suddenly it felt like I was flying, but I figured I’d died. I tried to open my eyes and then I saw her,’ his face was incredulous at the memory. ‘I knew I was dead. I didn’t even mind the pain – I fought to keep my eyelids open, I didn’t want to miss one second of the angel’s face…’

Hermione didn’t speak as she listened to how everything changed, how the fire had burned through him and how they were surprised at how he wasn’t disturbed by him being turned into a vampire and how he reasoned with himself – if there were such people like Carlisle and Rosalie, then why would he be disturbed.

‘I had a bit more trouble with the rules…’ He chuckled, shaking his head afterwards as his eyes met her’s and there was a frown on her face. ‘They had their hands full with me at first.’

‘I bet,’ Hermione murmured, quietly.

He laughed at her response and then stared at her, once more. He was glad that he managed to get her to sit down, to listen even if they didn’t speak much at first. It would only be a matter of time before it changed, that everything would settle.

‘Maybe, I should leave you…’

‘You can stay.’

Her answer shocked him, as he was ready to get up – to leave her in peace as he had wanted to share with her what the others hadn’t been able to except for Carlisle who would surely repeat it again, as he had told her it during the transformation.

‘Really?’ asked Emmett, cautiously.

Hermione stared at him and not to cause her anger to spike up, he made himself comfortable on the chaise lounge with him waiting for her to speak instead of just staring at him rather unnervingly but when she did – it surprised him again.

She was going to tell him about her life.

About everything until a few days – how it had all tragically ended.

The others were listening, though they were in different parts of the house; they did listen and would only hope one day that she would be willing to share it to the rest of them as they would give her time before each of their stories would be explained.

How they ended up being turned into vampires....


	2. We Were Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella's introduction to the Cullens with a twist, the newborn years that Hermione experiences will be more as a look back rather than go through it - this story is set later than 2005 and possibly later than 2008 for this story to work.

* * *

 

_‘The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.’ – JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban._

* * *

 

The cafeteria was bursting with noise and Bella was sitting across from Angela and Jessica as Mike and Tyler raced off – after Tyler stole his chair right from under him and Eric had disappeared after something was said by Angela. It was there, while sitting in the cafeteria, making conversation when she noticed them as the cafeteria doors opened; four people had entered – two guys and two girls. ‘Who are they?’ asked Bella, making Angela and Jessica glance at her, then over to where she was staring. The first boy was tall with blonde-hair and had moved away to get some food with the small dainty black-haired girl who had come in with him. The second boy had untidy, bronze-coloured hair and was walking next to a tall long blonde-haired girl.

  
‘The Cullens,’ said Angela in a shy tone.

  
‘They’re Dr and Mrs Cullen’s foster kids,’ said Jessica who was picking at the salad in front while Bella leaned forward, wanting to know more about them. ‘The blonde girl, that’s Rosalie and the guy is Edward, he’s totally gorgeous but apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I _care_ ,’ Jessica continued as Bella turned to look at Edward and Rosalie who were walking over to the furthest table in the cafeteria, away from other people.

  
‘The little dark haired girl is Alice, she’s really weird…’ Bella’s attention was soon back on Jessica before she glanced at the dark-haired girl who was thin with small-pixie like features and had short, spiky black hair with her holding the tall blonde guy’s hand as they moved through the cafeteria.

  
‘The blonde one is Jasper, he always looks like he’s in pain.’

  
Bella watched Alice and Jasper join Edward and Rosalie at the table, hoping that they wouldn’t notice before she turned back to Angela and Jessica, wanting more information about them though she never classed herself as a girl who liked to gossip.

  
She was intrigued by them.

  
‘Rosalie and Jasper are known as the Hales, they’re brother and sister – they were taken in by Dr and Mrs Cullen.’

  
Angela managed to help Jessica explain the public backstory that they knew about the Cullens as Edward and Alice were adopted by Dr and Mrs Cullen at an early age, though the two weren’t related at all with them not knowing their surnames before foster care and then adoption. Some of the townspeople suspected that there was some form of neglect and abuse which caused them to be taken away from their biological parents and to be put into foster care, after it was clear that there were no other relatives for them to live with.

  
‘They are very nice looking,’ said Bella who struggled with the words and Jessica agreed, trying not to giggle at her words.

  
Angela looked anxious as she didn’t want to delve too deep despite them not knowing everything about the family, she respected their privacy unlike others.  
‘They’re all together – Jasper and Alice. Rosalie and Emmett…’

  
‘Who?’ Bella asked, confused as she glanced back at the table, only seeing four and then looked back at Jessica as there was no Emmett at the Cullens’ table. Only Edward and Jasper, who were both distinctively different from the other.

  
‘Emmett McCarty, him and his twin sister Hermione were foster kids taken in by Mrs Cullen – we’re not sure when but it was after the others – they graduated two years ago. They attend Seattle University,’ explained Jessica in a rush like she had not made the mistake of not telling her who the two were until revealing that Rosalie and Emmett were together.

  
‘They’re like together, together – I’m not even sure that’s legal.’

  
‘Jess, they’re not actually related.’ Angela insisted, almost rolling her eyes at her friend’s words with her going back to eating her food, or well she picked at it as Bella looked back at the group of four.

  
‘It’s still weird,’ muttered Jessica with Bella silently agreeing that it was weird, even if they weren’t related – it was strange for foster children to live together, and to be together in her eyes.

  
Jasper and Rosalie Hale were related by blood as was Emmett and Hermione McCarty who Bella would never expect meeting, especially if they were studying at Seattle University.

  
‘They look a little old for foster children,’ said Bella, blinking as she turned to look at Jessica, not wanting to distract Angela from eating.

  
‘They are now. Jasper and Rosalie are eighteen, they graduate this year while Alice and Edward are seventeen – they’re in our year.’

  
‘It’s kind of them to take care of them, especially when they’re so young and everything,’ murmured Bella which made Angela smile at her, as though she appreciated it. She didn’t know why but she guessed that not everyone shared the same opinion.

  
‘I guess so,’ admitted Jessica, reluctantly. ‘I think Mrs Cullen can’t have any kids, though,’ she said it like it lessened their kindness.

  
Throughout the conversation, Bella’s eyes flickered over to the table as the siblings were either eating or talking to each other, being fully relaxed and acting as normal as possible but she did notice that Alice glanced at her briefly.

  
‘Have they always lived in Forks?’

  
‘No, they moved down a few years back from somewhere in Alaska.’ Angela answered, after she had finished her food and had taken a sip of her drink as she watched Jessica stick her fork in the salad once again, a scowl on the other girl’s face.

  
Bella felt a surge of pity and relief.

  
She was relieved that she wasn’t the only one that was new even if they had moved down from Alaska, a few years earlier – she did think it was strange however as she couldn’t remember seeing them in the summers that she visited Forks. It wasn’t long before the four left the table together – emptying their trays and then left the cafeteria, without looking back. Bella continued to sit at the table with Jessica and Angela, as Tyler and Mike had finally re-joined them, making more conversation with the new girl. She sat at the table longer than she would have if she had been sitting alone, as she didn’t want to be late to any of her classes but in some respect; she was grateful that she was making friends.

* * *

  
For Jasper and Rosalie, the next three lessons had flown by and when they left their last class of the day which was Spanish; both glanced at each other after seeing Edward storming out of Mrs Cope’s office, looking like he was in a foul mood. They made their way to the parking lot after Alice joined them, kissing Jasper’s cheek when no other student was looking and got into the Volvo before Edward joined them – Rosalie was sitting in the front while Jasper and Alice were in the back.

  
It was the same routine every school day since there was no need for a secondary car considering there was only four out of six attending High School. Carlisle worked in the hospital as a doctor in the emergency department and Esme was an architect and an interior designer while Emmett and Hermione worked and studied in Seattle with them having lived away from the family for two years since they had graduated Forks High School.

  
Edward was grasping at the fresh air as though he had been suffocated and Rosalie became alert after her and Jasper finished arguing about something to do with Hermione and Emmett, as the two weren’t coming back for the weekend as Emmett was working late and Hermione was on two early shifts in a row, with her working that evening as well which frustrated Rosalie and Jasper more than it did Edward and Alice as Jasper wanted to spend quality time with his sister and Rosalie wanted to spend time with Emmett.

  
Alone time, that was.

  
‘Edward?’ Alice asked, alarm in her tone as he merely shook his head at her, forcing himself to calm down.

  
‘What the hell happened to you?’ demanded Jasper, confused.

  
Instead of answering his brother, Edward simply threw the car into reverse, swung the car around and accelerated. He had hit forty as soon as he was on the road and knowing that his siblings were looking at Alice, as Rosalie turned in her seat.

  
Alice merely shrugged.

  
She couldn’t see what passed, only what was coming and to do Edward a favour; she looked ahead for him and was mortified by what she had seen. Edward was driving at night, alone on an empty highway, trees beside it coated in snow, flashing by at a frightening speed. The next vision was another choice which spun his future into a much darker direction, Isabella Swan dead at his feet, as her brother’s eyes were glowing crimson in the reflection of a half-shattered mirror and then another vision.

  
It was of the search which followed – led by a broken-hearted Charlie Swan who was mourning the loss of his only daughter and then the time which they would have to wait before it was safe to pull themselves out of Forks and to start over again, somewhere new. She saw a flickering vision of them moving out of the States then it would change and she saw a blurry future of living in New Hampshire for a while but then her eyes refocused and her facial expression was one of sorrow.

  
‘You’re leaving.’ Alice whispered, as her first vision was clear as day – Edward was set on leaving, on escaping Forks, escaping Isabella Swan.

  
‘What?’ Rosalie hissed.

  
‘Why?’ Jasper echoed his sister.

  
‘I’ll miss you, no matter how short a time that you are gone, Edward.’ Alice said, as Rosalie and Jasper exchanged an apprehensive glance; their questions remaining unanswered.

  
They were almost to the turn off onto the long drive that led them to the house, to their home and Alice instructed him to drop them off there, as it was clear there would be no point of him carrying on any further as she thought it was for the best.

  
For now, at least.

  
‘You need to tell Carlisle. We’ll be the ones to tell Esme.’

  
The car squealed to a sudden stop with Rosalie and Jasper getting out in silence, reluctantly as they would make Alice explain to them when Edward was gone as Alice was firm that they would be the ones to explain to Esme where he was.

  
‘You’ll do the right thing, Edward.’ Alice murmured, touching his shoulder and then told him that he would leave without Isabella, as she was Charlie Swan’s only family.

  
‘I know,’ said Edward who had been cautious to agree with his sister but in this instance, he knew that she was right – he couldn’t rip Isabella away from Charlie, so soon after she chose to come and live with him.

  
Alice slid out of the car, joining the others as she closed the door behind her and moved out of the way, disappearing through the woods with Jasper and Rosalie walking behind her, the three disappearing out of sight as Edward turned the car around, disappearing out of sight.

  
‘Where’s Edward?’ asked Esme, concerned as she noticed the three had come in without their brother and she had been on the stairs before being urged to come down as Alice insisted for her to come down.

  
‘He took off.’ Alice said, carefully as she knew that it would break Esme’s heart to know that Edward took off without an explanation from him, but she would have to do the talking.

  
Revealing that Edward had taken off because of Isabella Swan, as she explained each vision in as much detail as she could once they re-treated to the second floor, and into the living room so Esme could sit down and Rosalie sat down beside her. Jasper stood, listening to each word that had come out of his wife’s mouth and knew that his brother did the right thing despite wishing he simply explained it instead and then they would have discussed the options from there.

  
The visions were concerning in Esme’s mind and Alice couldn’t tell them exactly why he chose to leave despite revealing everything she had seen in a short space of time; it was something to do with the new girl in town.

  
Isabella Marie Swan.

  
It was clear to Rosalie and Jasper that Edward had switched cars with Carlisle as he returned in the silver Volvo, having let Edward borrow his black Mercedes and it was lucky that they were covered by insurance to drive other cars.

  
As it would only cause a situation if they weren’t.

* * *

  
Emmett had been working since finishing classes earlier that day and had only managed to return home to change into his work clothes but when he returned to the two-bedroom apartment, he noticed something was different.

  
Hermione was more than agitated.

  
Emmett knew that she was considering the crippling sense in the air, and in his bones as it would make his hair stand up if he was human as it was his sister’s power, though subtle most of the time – it did remind him of how she discovered what she could do all those years earlier. The reaction then had become completely different to what she was like now, despite being cautious as to be able to manipulate fear or dread in herself, others and even animals was scary to think about as it wasn’t like Jasper’s as he could manipulate and feel many different emotions.

  
Hermione could only feel and manipulate one, with it having the potential to cause someone to go into cardiac arrest or have a panic attack with her also being able to induce the fear so much that the target would be left in a catatonic state.

  
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Emmett asked her, setting down his work bag and rubbed his face, trying to see if he could figure out what was wrong with her.

  
He knew she hadn’t seen Garrett in a while, and it was a strange – and strained relationship between the two as Garrett was an elusive nomad who fed off humans and Hermione was part of a coven who drank blood from animals, not humans.

  
Maybe she was agitated because of being sexually frustrated –

  
It was almost like she knew what he was thinking and glared at him, which only made him put his hands up in mock surrender.

  
‘Carlisle called. He said that Edward left Forks…’

  
‘What?!’

  
Hermione snatched the phone out of his hand before he could even dial a number and he didn’t expect her to move so fast as she held his phone out of reach, almost making him want to growl at her – or to snatch it back off her.

  
‘What do you mean he’s left?’

  
‘Carlisle said to call him when you came back from work, as he said he was going to explain then,’ muttered Hermione who watched her brother’s facial expression change, he was bewildered by it as it was unusual for Carlisle to wait to tell them anything until they were together.

  
‘Maybe he had to go…’ Emmett stopped himself, not certain on what he was entirely thinking and knew for a fact that Hermione was not entirely bothered by him leaving.

  
She was more bothered about how Carlisle hadn’t told her anything except that Edward had left and that she had to wait to know until Emmett arrived back.

  
‘You can call them,’ she said, tossing his phone back over to him and Emmett caught it as she went back to sitting on the silver four-seater lounger with her pressing the green button on the remote to switch the television back on.

  
‘Stubborn,’ Emmett muttered who dialled Carlisle’s number once he responded to a text message that Rosalie had sent him and heard Hermione’s phone go off, twice but she seemed willing to ignore it – clearly wanting to know the answers first.

  
‘Emmett,’ Carlisle greeted him politely as he answered the phone, it was rare for them to catch him at night as usually he was working night-shifts or at least the past few weeks he had been on more night-shifts than usual.

  
‘Why did he leave?’

  
‘We’re not entirely sure as to why he left but…’ Carlisle explained as best as he could, making brief comments about Alice’s visions which caused Emmett and Hermione to glance warily at each other before hearing Rosalie’s voice echo in the background.

  
She revealed that he left because of the girl, Isabella Swan who was the Chief of Police’s daughter and had only moved back to Forks a few days earlier, to finish off her high-school education as well as for other reasons that were unknown. Some of the towns people suspected it was because of her flighty mother, Renee but they didn’t speak about it in front of Charlie and Emmett was trying to remember if he ever met the Chief of Police, as they all did good to stay out of trouble.

  
‘What do you mean he left because of a girl?’

  
‘She has a name, Hermione.’ Alice chided her sister, with it being louder than usual considering it was on speaker phone as Emmett didn’t want his ears to start hurting because voices would become more raised than normal.

  
‘He’s clearly being over-dramatic.’ Emmett said, interrupting Hermione from speaking and she merely rolled her eyes at him before her attention turned back to the television, not interested in the situation.

  
Her thoughts were another matter entirely; she was concerned about if the girl would talk about Edward’s sudden disappearance, especially considering it coincided with the girl’s first day at the high school but then there could be plenty of reasons as to why he left…

  
Which wouldn’t create suspicion.

  
‘I could always drag him back from Alaska and knock some…’

  
‘That wouldn’t work out in anyone’s favour, Emmett.’ Alice insisted, as it seemed like Carlisle had gone quiet or was merely just listening.

  
‘It’s worth a try.’

  
Before Emmett finally relented on leaving his brother alone and didn’t dare tell Carlisle or Esme that he didn’t think his brother would return until they left Washington, as knowing their Edward – his overthinking of the situation would cause him to stay away. He did manage to speak to Rosalie briefly, promising to call her later that evening and the call ended as Hermione was flicking through the channels; her only words were to tell the family goodbye and Emmett almost sighed at the silence.

  
‘Are you at work tomorrow?’

  
‘I think, I’m on an early shift.’ Hermione responded, shrugging her shoulders as she would check her hours later as she had been busy studying and making sure that all work that was due in for grading was ready to be handed in.

  
They couldn’t up and leave like Rosalie, Jasper, Alice and Edward could do as they could make excuses to the school that they were sick or were on a holiday while the two had to carefully plan their absences just like Carlisle and Esme did.

  
‘You should go and hunt then,’ said Emmett who noticed her eyes were darker than he remembered and frowned.

  
‘I think we both need to hunt.’ Hermione insisted after glancing back at him who didn’t say anything else as he went into his bedroom to get changed out of his work clothes and to get a quick shower before he would change into something suitable for hunting.

  
He heard the television switch off and Hermione got up, disappearing into her bedroom for less than twenty minutes. She had also gotten a quick shower and dressed appropriately, knowing they didn’t have to follow Alice’s fashion sense as they got to buy what they wanted, when they wanted.

  
‘Are you ready to go?’ asked Emmett who appeared in the doorway of her room, as she opened the door once she finished getting dressed.

  
‘Yes.’

  
He waited for her to grab her phone as he had the car keys, before he turned around and walked towards the front door with the two always having their phones on them and they left the apartment, going down to the private parking lot.

  
Getting into Emmett’s jeep instead of Hermione’s car and they set off with Emmett driving, the two not entirely certain on where they were going to hunt that night before they weren’t going to make a trip to Forks as Hermione had to hunt then go to work.

  
As she changed her shift slightly, so she would start later than she was supposed to after getting the call from Carlisle.


	3. Open Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward returns to Forks and seems to make a foolish decision in the eyes of some members of his family in saving another's life which makes some of his family have a disagreement with him.

 

* * *

 

_‘To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you into something else is the greatest accomplishment.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson._

* * *

Six days had passed since Edward left for Alaska and the Cullens had been anxious as they knew that things were not going to be the same if he returned. It was irrational for him to leave so sudden, over a girl who hadn’t been in Forks for long. Hermione was not as bothered by him leaving like Alice, Jasper and Rosalie were even though he did leave because of Isabella Swan. Emmett believed Edward was still being over dramatic and wanted to knock some sense into him if he returned.

"You know you’ve read the same page for twenty minutes, right?" Emmett said, glancing over at his sister and remembered the rumours that had taken place in their first trimester during their first year at Seattle – about them dating each other or being engaged.

Until people learned the truth as they were non-identical twins adopted by Dr and Mrs Cullen who resided in Forks, with it having surprised some of the friends they had made but weren’t entirely too close to, it still made them look more human and less outsiders if they made some friends.

‘And?’ said Hermione, bluntly.

Emmett sighed.

It didn’t take long for her to put the book down, staring across at him as he was pressing the remote every few minutes, flicking through the television channels and having a break from studying. Emmett was comfortable; despite the two having an argument that morning – about if they would leave Seattle if the family left Forks.

‘He’ll come back.’

‘He’s been gone for two years before,’ said Hermione who made it known again as the two weren’t there when their brother had left for two years, as it was a time when there was only Carlisle, Edward and Esme living together.

‘But he came back.’

 Hermione didn’t respond, turning her head towards the television and with that in mind, Emmett turned the television up after watching a re-run of an episode of a television show they both liked. The phone rang, an hour later and Emmett was surprised when he saw Carlisle’s name flash on the screen with him being a little wary to answer it.

‘I thought you were working,’ said Emmett who watched Hermione put the books she needed into the satchel that she had been given by Alice before they left for Seattle and then started to sort through all the class notes they both had.

 He knew his sister was listening to the conversation; as they spoke about how their day had been once Carlisle told him he took an early shift at the hospital so he could be home during the evening with it not being every-day they phoned. Emmett spoke to Rosalie more through phone-calls, video-calls and text messages than he did with the others and Hermione contacted Garrett, a few times in a week via a phone-call – that’s if his phone hadn’t died by then.

‘Edward’s coming back tonight.’ Carlisle said, knowing it was pushing it to even suggest that they should make the trip from Seattle to Forks, to see their brother.

‘We won’t be able to…’

‘I wasn’t –’

‘We can’t come.’ Hermione said in a sharp tone with Emmett wanting to glare at her but knew she was right, they couldn’t just change their shifts at work as they were both working that evening and couldn’t go to Forks.

‘We’re glad that he’s coming back,’ said Emmett.

‘How glad can we be? It’s not like we’re there.’

Emmett glared at her, before moving from the two-seater sofa as Hermione had her legs stretched out on the four-seater lounger with him having gone into the kitchen so he could speak to Carlisle without her being rude and interrupting.

‘Ignore her. She’s been in a mood, all day.’

‘Is everything alright, Emmett?’

It took several minutes for him to reassure Carlisle that everything was fine, that there was nothing to worry about and then told him that he had to go as he needed to get ready for work as did Hermione who left the television on louder than normal and disappeared into the first bathroom.

‘We’ll see you, soon.’

He heard Esme say that she hoped they had a good night at work before the call ended after a short goodbye to Carlisle. The family didn’t need to worry about the arguments that Hermione and him were having; they were three hours away from them, living a _different_ life.

* * *

 

_"If you must leave,_

_Leave as though fire burns under your feet,_

_If you must speak,_

_Speak every word as though it were unique..." **\- You by Keaton Henson.**_

* * *

 

Edward made his decision to return after speaking with Tanya and even if the conversation wouldn’t be known to anyone but them; he was grateful for it. It encouraged him to face his demons with him not knowing what would happen when he returned.

He was spellbound by Isabella Swan; the mystery of him not being able to read her mind and even the irresistible blood. She was his undoing and for days; he thought about what to do and thought how selfish it was for him to ask his family to give up everything.

To be uprooted again.

Emmett and Hermione would have to return from Seattle; Alice, Jasper and Rosalie would have to drop out of Forks High School, Carlisle would have to leave his job at Forks General and Esme would have to give up her work as she was working as an interior designer and an architect as despite being able to do most of it at home; it sometimes would require her to travel and he didn’t want them to give it all up; just for him to be selfish.

There were two outcomes – he returned to his family, to school and face Isabella or he would stay and it would make the family choose between not seeing him for a few years, having to explain his pro-longed absence or uproot themselves for him.

It wasn’t something he wanted.

He didn’t know what to do about his predicament. Not until he passed the Welcome to Forks sign and Alice would have surely informed the family of his decision to come back – no doubt seeing it in a vision. It was why he didn’t bother to call them. Edward had several missed calls and voicemails – Emmett and Hermione found out late on 18th January about him having taken off to Alaska; there was one voicemail where he caught the start of an argument between his siblings.

He felt guilty.

He didn’t want them arguing, especially when none of them were there to intervene but they had gotten used to the new situation. It was hard for Emmett and Rosalie, of course but they grew to accept it as it was all part of Emmett and Hermione playing the older siblings out of the _foster_ children that Esme and Carlisle had adopted.

Due to the speed; he was going, despite being cautious – he found himself at the beginning of the long drive to the house soon enough and slowed down with him parking outside the house. The front door was opened, seconds later as Esme came rushing out, followed by Carlisle.

‘Edward,’ Esme called, softly, rushing towards him as he got out of his car, shutting the door before they had embraced with his mother for all intents and purposes kissing his cheek softly.

_Don’t you dare leave like that again, Edward._

_Welcome home._

_The fool returns._

_We’ve been worried about you._

_Nice to have you back, brother._

Each thought was different – the first belonging to Esme, the second to Carlisle with the third, fourth and fifth belonging to Rosalie, Alice and Jasper. There was no sign of Emmett and Hermione, but of course, they wouldn’t be there.

It was wishful thinking on his part.

They were soon inside the house after Carlisle greeted him with a hug and Jasper was sitting down on the sofa, next to Rosalie with his brother reading a book while his sister was reading her magazine, with not one glance towards him.

‘I knew you’d come back,’ said Alice who appeared on the stairs, smiling before she had come down and greeted him properly.

‘Edward,’ said Carlisle who addressed him out-loud instead of his thoughts as they needed to know what he was going to do – if he was to return to school, stay at home or even leave Forks with the family which was doubtful.

‘Yes?’ asked Edward, tilting his head.

‘Have you decided?’ asked Carlisle, as the others were listening carefully with him hesitating, frowning but he knew why he had come back in the first place, to face his demons, to prove to himself that he could face them head on.

Not to run away from them or more specifically her.

‘I’ll go back to school.’ Edward said, after a few minutes passed with Jasper and Rosalie sharing a look with each other as if Hermione was there, she’d disapprove with the decision in Edward’s mind but he didn’t know what her or Emmett were thinking about the situation. He only knew that they had been told about him leaving and it was Carlisle who told them – he was coming back.

‘Try and keep your distance, don’t push yourself too far.’ Carlisle said, grateful that he chose to stay but he was concerned.

They could only support him with his decision and his siblings would be able to keep him in control during school; though Emmett was the only one who had encountered two people before, the blood having sung in a way that Bella’s did for Edward.

* * *

  _"If you must die, sweetheart,_

_Die knowing your life was my life's best part,_

_And if you must die,_

_Remember your life."_ **_\- You by Keaton Henson_**

* * *

 

 ‘It’s going to be okay,’ murmured Alice as her eyes were unfocused and Jasper had one hand lightly under her elbow, guiding her forward as they walked into the cafeteria in a close group. Rosalie led the way, looking wary but more irritated than protective.

‘Of course it is.’ Edward grumbled.

He found their behaviour ludicrous as if he wasn’t certain that he could handle it then he would have stayed home with Esme. The sudden shift from their normal, playful morning as it had snowed in the night – to the sudden overwhelming vigilance would have been comical if he hadn’t been irritated by it.

‘She’s not here yet,’ said Alice who contemplated about not sitting in their usual spot, though it would surely bring attention to them as they usually stayed in the spot they had originally sat in from the first day they started Forks High School.

_It is different without them…_

‘Of course, we’ll sit in our regular spot, Alice.’ Edward said, scowling as he heard her thoughts turn to Emmett and Hermione, how she missed them and how it was different without them. ‘I’m going to be fine,’ he muttered afterwards.

Esme assured him that the two were enjoying the life that Seattle offered them; though he suspected that there was a certain wish. If they weren’t immortal, if they were just normal human beings, then it would be different – everything would be different.

Alice blinked once as Jasper helped her into her seat and her eyes finally focused on her brother’s face, almost frowning at him. ‘I think you’re right,’ she said as she apologised in her thoughts.

Edward muttered something under his breath; as he hated being the focus of their concern; he did however feel a sudden sympathy for Jasper and Hermione, remembering all the times they’d hovered protectively over them then he glanced towards his brother who merely grinned.

_Annoying, isn’t it?_

Edward grimaced.

_Did you know about the argument that Emmett and Hermione had? Rosalie heard some of it this morning…_

Alice’s thoughts were clear again, focusing on their brother and sister as Edward glanced towards Rosalie who sat down in her usual spot, a tray of food in front of her as she had put a selection of food near where the three were sitting.

So, it wouldn’t look strange, not eating.

Rosalie was picking at the salad while being content on ignoring him. It was something she did often, but there were times when they shared a moment together that was pleasant and not rude. They would never be as close to each other as she was with Jasper and Hermione.

Like Edward would never be too close to Hermione; but it was his own fault for that.

No one took notice of them; they didn’t take notice that Edward was back or at least not all of them did – it seemed like Bella hadn’t said a word to him about anyone; it was strange for him not to be able to read her mind but it was a fact that he had to get used to.

‘Anything new?’ asked Jasper.

‘Nothing.’

Jasper raised his eyebrows as Rosalie and Alice started a casual conversation; something Edward paid no attention to as he shrugged his shoulders at his brother in response.

Edward saw Bella enter the cafeteria with Jessica and Angela, going over to pick what they were going to eat for lunch before making their way to the table where Eric, Mike and Tyler were sitting. It was crowded but everyone seemed at ease; with him being lost in his thoughts.

_Edward, stop staring at her._

_You’ll make people think you’re insane or something…_

_What is it about her?_

He looked away after hearing the last thought which had come from Jessica as she didn’t seem to understand why he was so interested in the new girl when he had never been interested in any of them before. Alice smiled at him; tensing as Rosalie was telling Jasper about the argument that she heard the start of between Emmett and Hermione, just before they left school. She didn’t think they realised the call was still going before she was polite enough to end it.

‘You didn’t tell Carlisle, did you?’ asked Edward.

Jasper frowned.

‘Why _would_ I do that, Edward?’ Rosalie demanded, sharply with her being irritated as Alice was unhappy and Jasper simply shook his head.

This was why Emmett and Hermione in Edward’s mind at least should still be in Forks but he knew why they weren’t. He knew why Hermione wanted to go to Seattle University as the two had never seen eye to eye, not since he upset her during her first year as a newborn vampire.

_Don’t go there, Edward._

The warning from Jasper made him grimace – soon turning his thoughts to something else and relaxed as Alice wanted his opinion about them going to Seattle to visit Emmett and Hermione when they had the chance to go because the two had visited them sporadically since after Christmas but even before it was sparse visits here and there, the two always seemed to come up with excuses unless Emmett wanted to see Rosalie.

‘It’s a good idea.’

‘Of course, it is.’

It seemed to end the conversation with Jasper and Alice talking while Rosalie was reading a book she had taken out of her bag with it being one of Hermione’s books – he noticed how his sister put another cover on the book to hide what it truly was which was: Hogwarts A History with him wondering if his other sister would have been mad about her touching such a precious book; a connection to the world she used to belong in.

Edward focused on anything but his siblings, having glanced back at Bella who told Jessica that she didn’t think he liked her and only for Jessica to tell her that the Cullens didn’t like anyone which wasn’t true, as they did spend time with some of them – Angela Weber being one of them but they just never got close enough to call themselves good friends or even best-friends.

Once lunch ended; Edward stayed in his seat as the students filed out and none of his siblings made the move to leave either – clearly wanting to see what he was going to do. Alice was hesitant when she said it would be fine.

She knew how quickly a mind could change.

‘Why push it, Edward?’ asked Jasper who didn’t want to feel smug but it was different for another member of the family to feel weak – it had been a struggle for him and Hermione, they were getting better though.

‘Go home, take it slow,’ said Jasper.

 ‘I don’t want to move yet,’ said Rosalie. ‘We’re almost out of high school.’

_Don’t think Hermione and Emmett would thank you if you did cause us to uproot either…_

‘No, Rose. I think it’ll be okay,’ murmured Alice. ‘I’m ninety-three percent sure that nothing bad will happen if he goes to class,’ she looked at him, wondering what changed in his thoughts that made her vision of the future more secure.

‘Go to class,’ Edward instructed as he pushed away from the table once he got up, turning and walking away from them without looking back. He heard all their thoughts as he walked off – Alice’s worry, Jasper’s condemnation and Rosalie’s irritation.

He took one last deep breath at the door of the classroom, before he walked into the small warm space with him not being late as Mr. Banner was still setting up. It was more than fascinating for him to learn about Isabella Swan while his three siblings attended their classes – despite being more alert.

In case anything did happen.

* * *

The rain had stopped but the parking lot was full of water and patches of black ice with Bella shivering as she headed for her truck, carrying the golden onion while carefully navigating the icy puddles. As she reached her truck, she looked across the lot – Edward was standing by his silver Volvo with Alice on the other side while Rosalie and Jasper were speaking to each other beside her red BMW convertible. He was torn between staying put and going over to Bella, to speak to her again after abruptly walking away from her in the corridor.

He thought about it for a few seconds, shifting slightly like he was about to walk over to her. ‘No,’ Alice gasped, suddenly as the conversation between Jasper and Rosalie ended, looking over at her with concern.

‘What is it, Alice?’

Instantly, Edward scanned her thoughts as Jasper wanted to know what was wrong while Edward believed he had made a poor choice and that Alice had seen something rather inexcusable. But it had nothing to do with him at all.

Tyler Crowley had chosen to take the turn into the parking lot quite fast and had to slam on the brakes when a car that was reversing almost collided with the van and it had skidded across the ice that was in the middle of the road.

The vision come just a half second after the reality – Edward saw the van skid towards Bella and her truck with her having spun around at what seemed to be the last second. He had already made his move, using his unnatural speed to get across the parking lot, not only being able to catch but having stopped the van in the process – so it only hit the side of the truck.

He hadn’t realised that his siblings watched it all happen – Rosalie was visibly tense while Jasper slipped his hands out of his jacket and Alice seemed to be clutching his arm, anxiously looking back and forth from what was going on in front of her eyes.

Then to Jasper and Rosalie and back.

The screaming began, yelling and calls for help as people rushed to Tyler’s aid, to Bella’s and Edward moved, leaping over the truck and disappeared before anyone could truly notice he was there. Mike and Eric ran to Bella –

‘Are you okay?’

‘What happened?’

‘Did anyone see what happened?’

‘Someone call 911!’

‘I already called. They’re going to send somebody over soon.’

‘Bella, I’m so sorry, I panicked.’

Amid the chaos, Alice with Jasper and Rosalie got into the BMW with Alice being allowed to drive as Rosalie was going to the hospital – to see Carlisle. Jasper and Alice would go back home, wait for them to return and to fill Esme in on the situation. Edward was anxious the entire way home as the silence was palpable with Rosalie having chosen to sit in the back of his car instead of going in Carlisle’s Mercedes with him parking in the garage not far from the house and they both noticed Emmett’s jeep parked between Rosalie’s M3 and Esme’s Audi.

Carlisle parked his Mercedes next to the Volvo and they went to the house in silence, immediately going to the second floor and into the dining room where the others were waiting with the room only being used for family meetings.

As in a group with such strong and disparate personalities; it was sometimes better to discuss things in a calm, seated manner.

_I'm warning you, Edward. Hermione, Emmett and Jasper are agreeing with each other._

Alice’s thoughts made him well-aware of the situation as Hermione and Emmett had been called by Jasper with his sister sitting down next to Esme as Carlisle sat at the head of the table with Edward beside him while Rosalie sat directly across from Carlisle, on the other end of the table. Glaring towards Edward as Jasper sat down beside her despite considering to take his place next to Alice or even stand. It was Emmett and Hermione who surprised Edward the most – they hadn’t been in the room when the others started to sit down.

Hermione’s expression was blank with her being the one to enter the room first with her debating about sitting down, taking her place at the table or standing but she chose to stand next to Emmett who was the last to enter, his facial expression colder than normal.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Edward as he looked at Rosalie then Jasper before looking at Hermione and Emmett – the latter having his arms folded across his chest. ‘I didn’t mean to put any of you at risk.’

_Too late for that._

_Maybe you’re just a complete and utter ass, Edward._

‘It was thoughtless and I take full responsibility for my actions,’ Edward continued, trying his hardest not to wince at what Emmett and Hermione were thinking, with him looking away from them and by Esme’s concerned expression – the two weren’t happy with him.

He didn’t tell Esme that they weren’t happy with each other.

‘What do you mean take full responsibility?’ demanded Rosalie, pausing to ask another question with her still glaring at him. ‘Are you going to fix it?’

‘No, not in the way you mean,’ said Edward, trying hard to keep his voice even and quiet despite the hiss that escaped Hermione’s lips. ‘I’m willing to leave now, if that makes things better…’

‘No.’ murmured Esme.

He patted her hand gently. ‘It’s just for a few years, Esme.’

‘Esme’s right, though.’ Emmett said. ‘You can’t go anywhere now as it would be the opposite of helpful. We have to know what people are thinking, now more than ever.’

‘Alice will catch anything major.’

Carlisle shook his head, glancing at each family member in the room, looking at Emmett and Hermione last, they had come so far during their time in Seattle. ‘Emmett’s right, Edward. The girl will be more likely to talk if you disappear, it’s either we all leave or we don’t.’

‘She won’t say anything,’ insisted Edward as he knew Hermione was ready to explode for the first time and Rosalie was ready too but unlike the latter, the former hadn’t seen any of the arguments regarding the Swan girl until now.

‘You don’t _know_ her mind.’ Carlisle reminded him.

‘I know this much. Alice, back me up.’

Alice stared at him wearily. ‘I can’t see what will happen if we just ignore this,’ with her glancing towards Hermione and Emmett then at Rosalie and Jasper with her not being able to see the future because their siblings and her husband were against ignoring the incident as a whole and forgetting about it as it simply wasn't as easy as Edward wished it to be.

Rosalie’s palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang. ‘We can’t allow the human a chance to say anything. Carlisle, you _must_ see that,’

‘Even if we decide to disappear, it’s not safe to leave stories behind us,’ said Hermione, interrupting Rose from continuing her rant and stared at Carlisle, ignoring Edward. ‘We live so differently from the rest of our kind; you know there are _those_ who would love an excuse to point fingers. We _have_ to be more careful!’

‘We’ve left rumours behind us before.’ Edward stated, bluntly.

‘Rumours and suspicions. Not eyewitnesses and evidence!’

Edward scoffed.

Jasper and Emmett agreed, nodding as their eyes were hard and Rosalie leaned back in her chair, agreeing with Hermione.

‘It doesn’t have to be a big production, the girl hit her head today and maybe the injury turns out to be more serious than it looked,’ said Rosalie, shrugging. ‘Every mortal goes to sleep with the chance of never waking up, the others would expect us to clean up after ourselves…’ It should be down to Edward but since it was beyond him; she was suggesting that she could do it without leaving any evidence behind that it was her who had killed the girl.

‘We all know how proficient an assassin you are, Rosalie,’ snarled Edward.

Rosalie hissed at him, furiously.

‘Edward, please,’ said Carlisle before turning to Rosalie. ‘I looked the other way in Rochester because I felt that you were owed your justice. The men you killed had wronged you monstrously but this is not the same situation, the girl is an innocent.’

‘It’s not personal, it’s to protect us all.’

There was a moment of silence while Carlisle thought through his answer and when he nodded, Rosalie’s eyes lit up, though she should have known better as he never compromised – not in that type of situation. ‘I know you mean well, Rosalie but I would like our family to be worth protecting…’ Carlisle carried on, telling her that the occasional accident or lapse in control is only a regrettable part of who they were with him including himself.

‘To murder a blameless child, in cold blood is another thing entirely and I believe the risk that she presents is nothing to the greater risk. If we make exceptions to protect ourselves, we risk losing the essence of who we are.’

Edward controlled his expression carefully.

It wouldn’t do at all to grin.

‘It’s just being responsible,’ muttered Rosalie, scowling.

‘It’s called being callous and every life is precious.’ Carlisle corrected her, gently with Rosalie sighing heavily and Emmett glanced at Hermione, who then looked towards Jasper, silently communicating without talking as she had become in-tune with Jasper, just like she was with Emmett.

‘It’ll be fine, Rose.’ Esme reassured her.

‘The question now is if we should move…’ said Carlisle.

‘No,’ hissed Rosalie. ‘I don’t want to repeat my sophomore year again and Emmett _and_ Hermione will lose their _well-earned_ place in Seattle.’

‘You could keep your present ages, of course,’ murmured Carlisle who stared at Rosalie then at Alice, Edward and Jasper before looking at Hermione and Emmett, both clenched their fists.

‘And move again, so much sooner?’ Rosalie countered.

Carlisle shrugged.

‘I like it here,’ murmured Rosalie.

‘We don’t have to decide now. We can wait and see if it is necessary.’

Rosalie sighed.

Now, Edward wasn’t worried about Rosalie because it was clear to him that she would go with Carlisle’s idea, his concern now turned to Jasper, Emmett and Hermione. Emmett was uncertain by the reasoning, while Jasper and Hermione remained unmoved by it.

He understood why Jasper and Hermione were – as before Jasper met Alice, he lived in a warzone, a relentless theatre of war and knew the consequences of flouting the rules, as he had seen the grisly aftermath with his own eyes.

Hermione had lived in a different kind of warfare, a war with magic that she had been fighting since she started attending Hogwarts and now she would do anything to protect them – her family, because of the ones she lost and the ones she could _never_ see again.

Emmett was more complicated but he hoped that his brother would agree with Rosalie and relax enough for him to get his point across to their siblings. Edward decided in that moment instead of trying to say something to Emmett or Hermione – he would speak to Jasper first.

‘Jasper,’ said Edward with his brother meeting his gaze, an empty expression covering his feelings with him being tense.  ‘Bella won’t pay for my mistake. I won’t allow that.’

‘So, she benefits from it then? She should have died today, Edward. I would only set that right.’

Edward repeated himself, emphasising each word. ‘I won’t allow it.’ Jasper’s eyebrows raised, shifting slightly under the watchful eye of the others and he clearly hadn’t expected it or that Edward would be willing to act to stop him.

Jasper shook his head once.

‘I won’t allow Alice to live in danger, even a slight danger. You don’t feel about anyone, the way I feel about her, Edward. You haven’t lived through what I’ve through, whether you’ve seen my memories or not, you don’t understand.’

‘I’m not arguing that, Jasper. But I won’t allow you to hurt Isabella Swan.’

Edward and Jasper stared at each other, not glaring but measuring the opposition. Jasper was sampling the mood around him, testing his determination until Alice spoke, interrupting them and he soon looked at her, telling her he knew that she could protect herself –

‘That’s not what I’m going to say,’ Alice said. ‘I’m going to ask you a favour.’

Edward saw what was on her mind, his mouth falling open with an audible gasp and he stared at her, shocked – only vaguely aware that everyone besides Alice was now eyeing him warily with Hermione thinking that he’d gone mad.

‘I know you love me but I would truly appreciate it if you didn’t try and kill Bella, as Edward’s serious about this and I don’t want you two fighting, secondly – she’s my friend…or at least one day, she’s going to be,’ said Alice.

It was clear as glass to Edward as he read her mind again, seeing Alice smiling brightly with her arm wrapped around the human’s waist, the girl smiling too and it was a rock-solid vision though the timing was uncertain but none of the others knew what he’d seen, only knowing he was shocked by it.

‘But Alice…’

‘I’m going to love her one day, Jasper and I’ll be very put out with you if you don’t let her be.’

Edward knew it would be a tougher argument with Emmett and Hermione; both were more than unhappy and he could tell there was a different atmosphere in the room. There was a sense of dread starting to fill him but it seemed unnoticed by the others, except for Jasper whose eyes widened as he looked over at her.

‘Hermione.’

‘No.’

‘I won’t let you kill her,’ said Edward who was about to stand up when Emmett grasped his sister’s arm and gave his brother a warning glance.

‘There would be no blood spilled.’

She didn’t have to shed any blood to kill the girl that was the cause of their problems and it might be rather callous of her but she did not want the Volturi on their doorstep. They took risks just by acting more human than others of their kind did.

All Hermione would have to do was induce a heart attack or even a panic attack – and then let it all play out; it would be more than perfect if Isabella was driving somewhere. It would be a car accident, a car accident that she wouldn’t walk away from.

‘They won’t get involved, as she doesn’t know anything.’

‘How certain are you that she doesn’t? Jasper said that she knew you were across the parking lot and then suddenly you were right by her side. How does that not make her suspect something, Edward? There are laws in place because of such…’

Edward stood up from his chair, almost knocking it backwards as he growled at her with Hermione’s arm still being grasped by Emmett until suddenly his brother was standing in front of her. It hurt Esme to watch them be against each other.

‘Do you truly want to risk everything for this girl?’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ demanded Rosalie, wanting to know what Emmett was thinking as she didn’t expect such an outcome especially after Carlisle adamantly refused to let her or Jasper kill the girl, so he wouldn’t let them kill her instead.

‘You would leave because of her?’

‘We leave either way.’

‘No.’ Esme said, firmly.

‘What she meant is that we’re leaving either way as we’re going back to Seattle, after all this is done.’ Emmett answered, interrupting Edward from speaking again.

‘You can’t kill her,’ said Alice who looked over at them, as she was worried about the outcome as she couldn’t focus on one singular vision like she could before the meeting started as she never expected something like this to be suggested.

‘Because you said so? Not all your visions end happily ever after, Alice. They’re indecisive. If she talks to someone and you don’t see it, we’re all at risk.’

‘Don’t.’ Jasper warned Emmett.

‘It’ll be like falling asleep, only more permanent.’ Hermione said, which made Edward move but before he could touch her – he ended up almost hitting the chair that Jasper had been sitting in, and luckily his brother was already up on his feet as he was going to try and diffuse the situation before a fight would start and it would be brutal to see the three so against each other as Emmett would always defend her first unless it was something involving Rosalie.

‘You touch her, I’ll rip your arms off.’

‘Emmett!’

‘You would truly…’

Esme was horrified but knew Emmett cared about both his siblings yet he had a much stronger connection to Hermione than he did with Edward as the past two years made the two closer because they lived together instead of with the family.

‘You can’t just let her speak about killing an innocent!’

‘Isabella _isn’t_ one of us.’

‘Don’t do this, Emmett.’

‘What choice do we have? If the Volturi find out, then that’s it…’

 ‘It won’t be like that!’

 ‘How do you know, Edward? How do you know it won’t be like that?’

‘Stop it.’ Carlisle said who remained in his chair as Alice and Esme hadn’t moved but Rosalie was torn between sitting down or trying to diffuse the situation as she had finally agreed with Carlisle, that there would be no bloodshed. Something in Hermione’s thoughts made Edward move quicker that time and it was a blur after that with Carlisle having no choice but to get up from his chair, to try and be the peacemaker – as he had to help Jasper and Rosalie pull Emmett, Hermione and Edward apart.

‘You make this choice, there’s no going back.’

‘It’s _the_ law.’

‘You’ve broken laws before, Hermione. And what would _he_ think of you callously murdering someone because you suspect they might know something…’

‘Don’t you _dare_ bring him into this, Edward!’

Jasper had to restrain Hermione harder than he wanted to so she wouldn’t lunge at their brother and rip him into shreds because he dared to bring up Fred once again. It was like the time he had done it by pure accident but his words were still hurtful, enough for her to snap. The rage that consumed her that day in the woods, several years ago seemed to be coming back yet Jasper knew it was more difficult for Carlisle and Rosalie to hold Emmett back as he was the strongest member in their family and his brother struggled as he wanted to get his hands on Edward - to hurt him.

It wasn't until Esme moved, standing between them that Emmett seemed to relax but only slightly, there was no calm emotion in him which made Jasper shake his head at Rosalie who was hopeful to let him go as Esme stared at all three of them - not paying the others any attention as her focus was on Hermione, Edward and Emmett as the once calm family meeting turned into something more as there was a barrage of emotions filling the room. 

‘You can’t do this.’ Alice said, softly as she was trying to ease the tension in the room as it was palpable since her siblings were against the other as she knew that if they killed Isabella Swan, it would cause them to move not long after and it would cause lasting problems within the family as Carlisle was set against killing the girl and Edward was ready to fight his siblings to save the life of a girl that none of them truly knew.

It would cause the family to rip apart, to fracture and never be the same as she remembered having several visions just like having a vision of Bella with blood-red eyes and wearing a blue dress ; all of it was hazy and uncertain but for that moment in time, the future seemed to be set on one thing which was the family separating if Emmett nor Hermione listened to what was being said. No one would be able to fix the bonds between them, nothing that Tanya or Irina and Kate or even Eleazar and Carmen would try to do would fix it although she was certain there would be no intervention from the Volturi either. 

‘She’s not your friend. She’s not his girlfriend. She is _nothing_ to us, Alice.’

‘She’s innocent!’

Emmett gritted his teeth, managing to pull out of Rosalie and Carlisle’s grasp with him looking to Hermione who was tense and there was that sense of dread still in the air, making Jasper on edge as he didn’t know what they were thinking.

‘I won’t allow any of you to kill her.’ Carlisle declared, firmly.

‘You would truly risk our entire family for a human, Carlisle?’

Rosalie’s eyes widened as it wasn’t Hermione who spoke those words, it was Emmett and it was strange to see another side of him. He wasn’t on Rosalie’s side like Edward thought he would have been, as this time he was siding with Hermione – the two were against letting the girl live. If the price was for the family to separate, then so be it in their eyes as they knew what the Volturi could or even would do to the family – for if the girl talked, if the whole town discovered what they were and the Volturi had to step in –

The price was too high.

‘If it means she lives, then to an extent I would.’

‘You always side with him, no matter what we do – it’ll always be him. Before any of us, it’ll be Edward because he was the first to be turned and that’s not fair.’

‘Hermione.’ Jasper whispered, his grip on her slackened after he was given a look from Alice but all his sister did was shake her head, taking one last look at Edward before she disappeared, like she was never there in the first place.

‘She talks, Edward. We will step in, with or without your help.’ Emmett said, bluntly and took one last look at Esme whose emotions were showing as she was heart-broken by such a volatile situation happening as it seemed to be peaceful until then.

‘Emmett, please.’ Rosalie pleaded as she went after him with Edward looking as though he wanted to do something, to stop them leaving.

Alice sighed.

‘Bella isn’t going to say a word,’ Alice said carefully after Emmett and Hermione had made the decision not to act straight away.

It was the way she said Bella’s name that made Jasper look at her with curiosity sparking as it was like Alice and Bella were already close confidants. It was bizarre in his mind due to what had just happened and he frowned.

‘Alice,’ choked Edward. ‘What does this…?’

‘I told you there was a change coming,’ Alice locked her jaw and Edward could see that there was more but she was hiding it from him, suddenly focusing on Emmett and Hermione – both still torn yet they all listened to Rosalie plead with Emmett to stay.

The roar of the jeep engine coming to life made Esme move towards one of the windows as she saw the jeep pull out of the garage, the windows closed and Rosalie was stood in the driveway, out of the way of the jeep which took off down the long road…

‘What, Alice?’

She shook her head.

‘Is it about Bella?’ demanded Edward who was ready to race off after Emmett and Hermione, to stop them but Carlisle had his hand resting on his shoulder in seconds, making him stay put.

‘It’s solidifying,’ whispered Alice. ‘Every minute, you’re even more decided than the last and there are only two options, Edward.’

‘No.’

Edward was in denial, shaking his head.

‘Will somebody please let the rest of us in on this mystery?’ Jasper demanded as Rosalie had come back with her being ready to hit or scream at Edward until he muttered that he had to leave, ignoring the question that Jasper wanted an answer to.

‘We’ve been through this already. It would only cause her to talk and besides, we won’t know if she’ll talk to anyone else, so you have to stay and deal with this.’ Rosalie stated, bitterly.

‘I don’t see you going anywhere, Edward.’ Alice told him.

_Think about it, Edward. I’m not entirely sure what Emmett and Hermione are going to do now, and if they believe she’s a threat after you leave…or even Jasper believes…_

‘I don’t hear that.’ Edward contradicted her, only half aware of their audience but he didn’t know what Emmett or Hermione were thinking – they had left before everything could become calm again, and he knew they were furious.

_Not right now, but will you risk her life? Leave her undefended._

‘Why are you doing this to me?’

  _I love her too, or at least I will even if it’s not the same. I want her to be around for that._

‘Love her too?’ Edward mumbled, incredulous.

Alice sighed again.

_You are so blind sometimes, and it’s more inevitable than the sun rising in the west…see what I see, Edward…_

Edward was horrified by the thought, so he shook his head once more. ‘No,’ he said, trying to shut the visions out that Alice was showing him. ‘I’ll leave. I will change the future.’

‘You can try.’ Alice said, keeping her tone sceptical.

‘Oh, come on.’ Jasper hissed.

‘Pay attention,’ Rosalie snapped at her brother, telling him that Alice had seen Edward falling for the human and then made a small gagging noise, like it disgusted her.  ‘Fall for a human?’ Esme repeated in a stunned tone. ‘For the girl he saved today? Fall in love with her?’

‘What do you see exactly, Alice?’ demanded Jasper.

Alice turned to look at him, telling them that it all depended on if Edward was strong enough or not, as either he would kill the girl himself or that she would be one of them one day. Jasper and Rosalie hissed as Esme gasped, her eyes wide.

‘That’s not going to happen!’

‘It all depends,’ repeated Alice. ‘He may be strong enough or he might not be. It’ll taken an amazing amount of control although the only thing he truly isn’t strong enough for is staying away from her.’

None of the others seemed to be able to find their voice at that point with the others seeming to stare at him while Alice stared at Jasper and Edward stared at Alice. After several minutes, Carlisle sighed as he wished Emmett and Hermione had stayed for the revelation.

‘Well this certainly complicates things.’

‘I’ll say,’ Rosalie agreed.

‘I suppose the plans remain the same though,’ mused Carlisle, thoughtfully. ‘We’ll stay and watch. Obviously, no one will harm the girl.’

Edward stiffened as did Jasper and Rosalie.

‘No,’ said Jasper, quietly. ‘I can agree to that as if Alice sees two ways…’

‘No!’ It wasn’t a growl or a shout or a cry of despair; it was more of the three combined with Edward having to get out of the room.

Away from the noise – Rosalie’s self-righteous disgust, Carlisle’s never ending patience and worse: Alice’s confidence, Jasper’s confidence in her confidence and the worst of all…Esme’s joy.

                 

               

 

               

               

               

               

               

               

               


	4. I Need You, You Need Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six weeks is a long time, not only for the fact that Edward hasn't spoken to Isabella - the family haven't heard from Emmett or Hermione in that amount of time. There is a decision to be made that will be drastic in the eyes of the family, but right in the eyes of two members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be a bit different than it is now but I was thinking about if Hermione and Emmett made a drastic decision then how would the rest of the story pan out so this is where I got up to. I have decided to set this story for later than 2008 – as it makes it more reasonable for Hermione to be where she is now. Any suggestions or ideas to what you want to see happen in this story, comment or PM me. – Devil

* * *

 

_“We can’t choose our fate, but we can choose others. Be careful in knowing that.” – J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix._

* * *

 

Six weeks passed since the van incident and Edward managed to avoid Isabella at all cost despite sharing a class together, he was attempting to prove Alice wrong but even Rosalie and Jasper thought he wouldn’t be able to stay away from Isabella.

Emmett and Hermione barely called or checked in since the incident and the family meeting with it being hard for Edward to think about them. They were at odds with each other, and Emmett had been arguing with Rosalie since he left abruptly with Hermione, all those nights ago.

It was hard on the family as Esme wanted them to at least come home and then they could find a semblance of peace but Hermione was too stubborn and Emmett was agreeing with her but Edward knew that their decision about killing Isabella was undecided; they wouldn’t kill her out of spite.

They would do anything to protect their family, to protect the ones who they loved the most and Hermione respected the laws that the Volturi created more than Edward believed she would, as her and Jasper shared similar opinions about the Volturi.

How they were needed.

“Are you even listening?” asked Rosalie, as her gaze focused on him and he did move his head, looking at his sister with a confused expression on his face.

Jasper was amused by his confusion and rolled his eyes as he had been watching his brother stare at the cracks through the plaster in the corner of the cafeteria since they sat down with him being ready to boot Edward in the shin when Rosalie spoke, gaining his attention.

“We want to go see them,” murmured Alice softly as she was peeling an apple and was cutting it up into tiny bite size pieces, as though she was ready to eat it.

Edward sighed at the words and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, I mean from what Carlisle said – Hermione is leaving Seattle for the weekend and Emmett has taken more shifts at…”

“We know but we’re not on about the weekend, we’re on about today,” Alice insisted, interrupting him as she stopped her sister from interrupting instead as she saw Rosalie’s eyes flash with anger.

Edward didn’t say anything to it as he didn’t think it was any better to surprise them either but didn’t voice as his own thoughts as he knew it would only cause another argument and he was finished arguing with them. He wanted the school day to tick away that slowly, it would cause his siblings to change their mind about going to Seattle.

Instead of going straight home as he didn’t think he could bare to listen to the anger in Rosalie’s thoughts any longer as they were back to being in one car for the time being – his car, his Volvo that almost ended up being damaged during one of Rosalie’s _temper tantrums._

School did drag at least for him and he knew when they were standing, waiting for him by the car that Rosalie, Jasper and Alice were determined to go to Seattle. A three-hour drive to see them was slow considering Edward decided to stay to the speed limit.

Arriving at Emmett and Hermione’s place, they saw that Hermione’s blue Mini Hatchback was gone and Emmett’s jeep was parked in the usual spot which made Alice automatically assume that they were in, or at least Emmett was in at least.

“He’s home?” Alice looked at Edward who switched the engine off and shrugged his shoulders as his brother’s thoughts weren’t that clear to him with Jasper shaking his head, breathing deeply as he was the first to get out of the car and the others followed.

It took several minutes for Emmett to answer the door and he said nothing to them as he moved aside so that they could go inside with Rosalie looking around, noticing that Hermione wasn’t in but none of them seemed to want to sit down and talk.

“Where’s Hermione?” asked Alice, watching Emmett closely as he started cleaning up the table which had several books piled up as well as class notes.

“She’s gone to see someone,” said Emmett, not giving them the full answer part from telling them that she took a full week off with the course and work due to something and he didn’t elaborate on the situation with Jasper answering that she was with Garrett.

“Why haven’t you…”

“You know why, we don’t have time to…”

“If Hermione got a week off then…”

 “I’m not having an argument with any of you. I was the one who told Hermione to take the week off, to go and see Garrett, maybe even go see Peter and Charlotte too. Then we can decide…”

“On what?” demanded Rosalie, her temper flaring as there was no kiss, no hug or any term of endearment with each other, merely looking and speaking to each other as neither Edward nor Jasper and Alice could get a chance to speak as it was like they weren’t even in the room.

“We’re thinking of transferring…” Emmett winced more internally than anything but he thought that it might be better for them that way – that it would make things clearer and would make it far easier for the family to move to another place, to not be so suspicious.

He knew it was risky, especially considering Carlisle was trying to push for his thirties at least when he was only twenty-three and there had been an initial idea where Jasper and Rosalie would pose as younger siblings to Carlisle but then they decided against it.

“To where!”

“Alaska,” Hermione’s voice made Alice jump, quite literally as she never expected her sister to be there as she was so quiet even for a vampire with her then turning around because she wanted to see her as she looked at her properly, noticing how dark her eyes were.

“But why?” Jasper asked, abruptly.

“We don’t look like we’ve aged a day since we moved here and it’s been two years…” Hermione was about to finish what she was saying but stopped when she noticed the look that Emmett gave her, which would normally not stop her from talking completely.

“There’s a possibility of us transferring somewhere else, further away from here,” murmured Emmett as they had enquired about it all and knew they had to make the decision soon; it would be a rash decision on their part but he thought it would give them time.

Things had changed in the two years that the two had been away and Hermione had been a vampire for several years now, being part of the family that was already large – in the context of a coven except for the Volturi who had five core members and then an extensive guard.

“Cambridge?” hissed Edward, horrified at the idea of losing both siblings if they chose to move to the other side of the world.

“You can’t…you can’t leave without talking to the rest of us…”

“It’s not your decision to make, Alice. It’s ours.”

“Family can grow apart, too…” declared Emmett, before the two sisters could start arguing with each other and then Rosalie snapped, demanding to know how he could say such a thing while Jasper looked towards Hermione, as the two were set on making a big move.

Bigger than the last one.

“Hermione,” whispered Alice as she watched her sister move past Edward, grabbing the bag that had been placed on the four-seater lounger without even a glance at any of them.

“I’m going to be late for my flight.” Hermione stated to Emmett who was dismayed by how Rosalie shook her head and then preceded to sit down instead of storming out like he half-expected her to, as it wasn’t an easy decision on his part – leaving his wife.

“I can take you.” Edward murmured, wanting to speak to his sister while Emmett and Rosalie would hopefully try sort things out by talking instead of arguing but he knew it could only cause more issues.

“I’ve got to pick something up anyway.” Emmett told him, seeming against his brother to take her to the airport as the issues caused by the fight at the family meeting were still there; still burning away at the two of them who still had their own issues to sort out.

“But…”

“You should have said you were coming, and then we’d have arranged something,” said Hermione who knew it might only be the words to set Rosalie off even further but it was true; they should have forewarned the pair of them so she could have gotten another flight and Emmett could have delayed picking his delivery up.

“We’ll come with you,” murmured Jasper as he wanted to try and compromise, to stop arguing and then they would be able to figure things out after she came back.

Hermione merely shook her head, turning to look towards Emmett before she walked past Alice who watched her brother sigh before telling them that they could either stay and wait for them, or they could go explore the city a bit more while he took her to the airport.

“Emmett, please.”

“She’s right, Jasper. You should have told us first,” said Emmett who didn’t want another argument either, with him being reluctant for them to follow behind him but had no choice in the end as Hermione was getting impatient, as she promised Garrett to be there at a specific time.

Alice wondered why her sister was flying out instead of driving like she usually would, though it would take longer if Garrett was in one of the Southern states but it was unusual for her unless she was going somewhere else – as her sister and Garrett made a habit of exploring other countries like South America.

They did follow Emmett and Hermione to the airport with Rosalie having wanted to scream, to shout at her partner but she held back as she knew it would make the situation worse while Edward wondered how Carlisle and Esme would take the news.

The news of Emmett and Hermione transferring either to Alaska or to Cambridge University in England with him wondering how it would all work; considering his siblings had jobs and had a life of their own that they were trying to make as human as possible.

Edward got out of the car first with him being wary as he wondered about following them but he knew that he wanted to say goodbye to his sister, even if it was for a short while – though he wondered if they had put everything in place to transfer already.

“Tell Garrett, I said hello.” Emmett said to her as they had gone through the airport, as far as they could with her having to check in and then go towards the boarding gate.

Neither Alice nor Rosalie wanted to say goodbye to Hermione; as it felt like it would be the last time they would see her for a while but Jasper was ready to embrace his sister, murmur a goodbye as well as even a good luck with him not wanting to let her go either.

“I’m not leaving forever,” said Hermione to him before she was the one to pull away, smiling as she did but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Emmett had gone to Rosalie’s side with him whispering something into her ear and she merely nodded before she moved, embracing Hermione quicker than Jasper did and Alice followed so it would only leave Edward to say goodbye and the two nodded at one another.

Edward knew it wouldn’t be the same for him to say goodbye to her, but the two would get over their differences soon enough and become as close as they could – though never as close as he was with Alice or she was with Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie.

Hermione’s departure was swift after that with her having checked in and then she disappeared through a small crowd with her heading for her flight as Edward was right – she was flying to Atlanta and then from there, who knows where she was going to go.

Jasper and Alice held hands as they left the airport with Rosalie and Emmett being in front of them, talking in low tones while Edward trailed behind them – leaving his siblings to their private conversations as he knew that once they left the airport, they would be going their separate ways.

Emmett would be going to pick up his delivery and then go to his home while Edward, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice would make the three-hour drive back to Forks and then home, to see Carlisle and Esme – to tell them about their _eventful_ day.

The next day seemed to be more imposing for Edward than anything else as he walked into the high school, ready to face Bella once more but this time he decided that he would try and speak to her, try not to be so ignorant this time as he remembered his siblings’ thoughts – how Emmett and Hermione were still against each other on other matters.

He listened to the conversation that Bella was having with Mike Newton who was trying to ask her to the dance after telling her that Jessica had already asked him which made him grit his teeth in frustration but knew that his anger, the rage inside him wasn’t at the teenage boy.

The anger was more directed at the entire situation with Emmett and Hermione then when he heard Bella speak about going to Seattle on the Saturday that the dance was on and it made him interested to know more with him being polite enough to not interrupt.

After Mike left the table, he turned his head to look at her with her glancing at him before it wasn’t long until Mr Banner called his name, asking him a question and he was quick to answer; knowing that he had to get it at least half-right, considering he wasn’t truly listening to him.

His brief hour with her passed all too quickly, with hardly any words being spoken to her when the bell rang and Bella started to collect her belongings without looking at him and then he said her name, reading her face as Bella seemed cross with him.

“What?” Bella asked, demanding to know if he was now willing to speak to her again with him knowing he had to be careful not to upset her, to just try and make amends.

Edward told her that he was sorry and that was the truth with him knowing that he should have tried but at the same time; he didn’t want to prove Alice nor Jasper and Rosalie right with him remembering the words that were spoken the night before.

“I’m being very rude, I know but it’s better this way,” He knew that they couldn’t be friends, he couldn’t risk it but he could still try and speak to her either way.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s better if we’re not friends.”

Bella breathed deeply, telling him that he should have figured that out earlier with Edward being shocked as he didn’t expect the reaction from her that she had to his words as she told him that he could have saved herself all this regret completely.

“You think I regret saving your life?”

“I know you do,” retorted Bella whose words seemed to make him seethe even more than he had been doing over everything else and she ended up getting a snappy response.

Bella ended up storming off and when she stumbled near the doorway, her belongings crashed to the ground but instead of bending to get them; she stood rigid as though the books weren’t worth retrieving when Edward was beside her, picking them up.

“Thank you,” said Bella.

Once Bella disappeared to her next class, he soon went to Spanish with him never being questioned by Mrs Goff and didn’t pay attention to Jasper until the hour was nearly up, his brother was curious and irritated at least in his thoughts as Jasper was trying to process everything too.

They didn’t speak either as they walked to the Volvo, wondering in his mind as to why Jasper thought he did look somewhat hopeful and then once he got into the car, he was waiting patiently for Alice and Rosalie to arrive with the two being wary of what was going on.

Edward watched Bella in his rear-view mirror after he pulled the Volvo out into the narrow lane, blocking her exit and he was glared at while Tyler hurried to his car, getting in line behind her and seemed grateful for Edward’s sudden drastic behaviour.

Bella was agitated by his behaviour and as Rosalie was starting to grow impatient, Edward was half-tempted to leave but he wasn’t willing after hearing Tyler’s thoughts about how he wanted to ask her to the spring dance even though he knew that she’d say no.

“I’m not going to be in town, Tyler,” she told him, irritation in her tone as Rosalie and Alice shared a look with each other, hearing the conversation as well since the old Chevy truck was behind the Volvo.

“Let’s just go,” Rosalie hissed impatiently with her not even finishing her sentence as she knew her brother found it all very amusing.  “Stop being an idiot, if you can and just go!”

No one spoke to him on the way home and as he turned on to the drive, he was speeding up a bit so they could get back to the house quicker as Carlisle had another night off as he had taken some time off to make it all look natural instead of him constantly working all the time.

Alice ruined Edward’s suddenly good mood. “Do I get to talk to Bella now?” she asked abruptly, trying to ease the tension in the car.

“No,” he snapped.

“That’s not fair! What am I waiting for?”

“I haven’t decided anything, Alice.” He gritted his teeth, not wanting to continue the argument with her about the girl who he did want to get know so badly but he knew it was too risky, too dangerous before he saw what Alice saw about Bella’s two futures being clear again.

“What’s the point?” He mumbled, sadly. “If I’m just going to kill her?”

Alice hesitated for a few seconds as Jasper and Rosalie grimaced at each other, the two were sat in the back while Alice was sat in the front which was a change but the two knew that tensions were running higher than normal because of everything going on.

“You have a point there,” Alice admitted before they ended up at the garage, parking as Rosalie muttered to him about enjoying his run when Edward switched the engine off and then he got out of the car with him not answering her as he went hunting instead.

Jasper was the one who joined him mid-hunt with his brother leaning against a tree, as he had his fill and looked as though he wanted to shout or do something as he still hadn’t truly processed that Hermione and Emmett were intending on leaving the family.

“It’s not like that.” Edward said, abruptly as he checked his clothes especially the jeans he was wearing as he didn’t want to make Alice _upset_ over tearing his brand-new jeans.

“Carlisle _knows_ he can’t persuade them to stay, they’ve lived away from the family for two years Edward and the only reason Emmett would doubt a decision like that is Rosalie but they aren’t exactly seeing eye to…”

“He knows she’s graduating this year, Jasper so maybe they’ll put it off for a few months and they’ll reconsider –

“It’s not that simple, though is it? You know what Hermione and Emmett were thinking, and I know what they felt the night of the family meeting and I know what they felt today.”

“…Jasper.”

Edward watched him shake his head and then run his hands through his hair; he knew that he had every right to be anxious about it or even worried as the decision was drastic and would split the family further apart if Rosalie decided to go with them after graduating.

_You know they won’t change their minds, Edward and I think Carlisle knows that – he was speaking to Esme when I left and the conversation wasn’t exactly…pleasant._

Jasper addressed him in his thoughts as he pushed himself away from the tree and stared directly at him as the two scowled – not at each other but at the entire situation. Edward wondered if it was him who was causing them to leave, and Jasper wondered if it had been planned for a while.

That his siblings only needed a catalyst and then they would make their definite decision on the matter without discussing it with the family.

The Volturi were aware of Carlisle and his coven, they did not know however the mere size or power that they possessed as they were a coven of eight vampires living somewhat together in a human environment; trying to blend in with the humans.

If Isabella Swan was turned into a vampire like Alice had seen in a vision; then it would mean the coven had nine vampires and if Jasper was correct in thinking that Bella held some sort of dormant power inside her then it would mean that there were five members of Carlisle’s coven with special abilities.

“Must you think about them?” hissed Edward, being fully aware of the risks that they were in and the risk he would be taking if he managed to get to know Bella better.

“I’m only thinking what you and the others are thinking, Edward. Hermione respects the law, almost as well as I do and you know why she…”

“That’s not the point you’re taking to make!”

_Maybe not but you know exactly why Hermione respects the law. She respects the Volturi for keeping the peace, just like she respected the Ministry of Magic once. War changed her and maybe..._

“Maybe what?”

It wasn’t a thought that was finished by Jasper nor did he finish it out-loud which frustrated Edward but he wouldn’t press his brother for answers, he would try and be patient as he could with the entire situation as he had imagined many different outcomes if he didn’t.

“Let’s have a race, since we’re both finished hunting…” said Jasper who eyed him warily before the two were ready to take off, to try beat each other in the race to get home and they would keep the conversation to themselves for now.

Edward seemed distracted by his brother’s thoughts for a moment and then he realised that it was Jasper’s intention with him shouting that he was cheating and took off after his brother who was laughing at how the simplest trick worked on the mind-reader.

It would either be Jasper or Edward who beat the other; and they didn’t realise that Alice and Rosalie had taken part in a bet on who would get home first –

* * *

 

“Impatient, are we?” Garrett murmured into her ear and she turned to respond, finding his face within inches of hers and Hermione was no longer tense as she had been getting ready to go for a shower when he joined her in the bathroom of the hotel room they were in.

Her dark-golden eyes locked with his as they shared a deep and meaningful kiss, his hand running through her hair and his right hand dropped down to her waist, pulling her towards him despite only being half-clothed; it didn’t matter to either of them.

Hermione hadn’t seen him in months and it had been a slow-burn at first; she was grateful that he was so patient to wait for her, to let her ease into it without rushing into anything especially when it came to their instincts and she wondered how he did.

How he made her feel like her heart was still beating. In the back of her mind; she told herself that it was a betrayal, a deep and nasty betrayal to the love of her life, the man whose life had been viciously ended in the Battle of Hogwarts on 2nd May 1998.

They had only been reunited for a few hours when it happened and Hermione tried not to lose herself in thought when Garrett’s lips touched her neck, softly as a surge of longing rushed through their bodies with her taking a breath as he pulled away.

“…Garrett.”

“I’ll be in the room,” he murmured abruptly and was about to turn when her lips connected with his again and she kissed him deeply before once again pulling away.

It was a long shower that Hermione took, washing the dirt and the grime off her body as she had been hunting and when she had returned – Garrett had showed up with eye contacts that were a strange colour due to how recent he had fed and then he took them out.

Showing her the burgundy red that proved he had recently hunted and Hermione’s heart didn’t cease as it couldn’t but she did wonder how the relationship would work as she was an animal drinker while he still drank the blood of humans.

He tried not to hunt innocents as much as he did criminals or those he believed didn’t deserve another chance at life but it was still killing a human-being and Jasper once asked her how it faired in the relationship that his sister shared with the nomadic vampire.

Hermione never admitted to Jasper nor to Emmett or the others that she had felt like she was slipping, letting her true nature – the monster inside her to become free as she knew that it would only cause tension especially if Edward chose to get close to Isabella.

She got dressed, wearing a plain black top and a pair of jeans with her having dried her hair properly and brushed it before she had come out of the bathroom as Garrett was standing by the window, looking out onto the city as they were in Rio de Janerio.

He turned after seeing her reflection in the window and he moved forward, his arms were around her within less than a minute and he was kissing her again. Hermione thought about pushing him away but it had been too long, yet her mind was telling her that he’d understand if she did.

Digging her fingers into his shoulders, into the fabric of his t-shirt, she kissed him back with the desperation that had been building up for weeks and all the while; she never once knew what he was thinking, not unless he shared his thoughts with her out-loud.

She was grateful that she wasn’t like Edward, not with him being able to read minds constantly; as she wondered how unnerving that would be if he could hear the thoughts of the girl that Alice predicted he would fall in love with as Jasper told her about Alice’s vision.

Garrett lifted her up after his hands moved back down to her waist and she resisted the urge to squeal at him picking her up as of course he was taller than she was. It was nerve-wracking when he pulled away from the kiss, his eyes staring into hers.

“I do love you,” admitted Garrett in a low tone, his red eyes had darkened – not because of thirst, as he had already hunted but they darkened for another reason entirely. He knew that she could not admit it, not just yet and he would wait until the day she did –

Her eyes seemed to light up and suddenly her lips were on his after he put her down on the bed and her fingers hooked through the belt loops on his jeans; pulling him down against her and his hands flattened against the quilt cover as they shared another kiss.

If she was human; she’d surely have drowned in all the emotion but she was ready, just like the times before and hoped in the back of her mind that Alice was not trying to look for her future – Hermione never wanted her sister to know what she was doing with Garrett.

It was private.

Garrett pulled her up, both were now sitting on top of the quilt cover with him slipping his hands under her top and pulled it up before tossing it aside with her secretly wondering if she should have even gotten dressed in the first place but she kept that opinion to herself.

_Where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve and chivalry._

 If their hearts could beat, they would surely be thudding against their chests as it wasn’t long before they were undressed and Garrett’s eyes were almost black. Hermione knew he could only see her, as she could only see him and their bare skin pressed against each other’s. Her hands tangled in his dark-brown hair that reached down to his neck and his fingers ran down the top half of her body, slowly stopping at the scar that should have not been there – it was the scar that Bellatrix had given her, using a cursed blade.

They never understood why it was there, nor could they possibly ever know why as a vampire was supposed to be perfect while Hermione was flawed – she didn’t have the perfect skin that others had yet Garrett found her beautiful, having told her that it didn’t matter.

_Do you trust me._

That’s what was silently being asked in his eyes as they stared at each other, full of passion and desire – it was something they did when words did not need to be used. They shared a deep relationship, no matter how strained that it had become. Her mind and heart were confused – only for a few seconds but without words; she responded by kissing him lightly on the lips and then suddenly her hands were on his arms; the two had twisted on the bed carefully, so as not to break it.

She was on top of him and he grinned cheekily up at her as they moved with a rhythm that was entirely their own and with a fire burning deep inside. It made Hermione feel alive; the most alive she’d ever felt for a while and it burned through her.

Together or Not at All will be something they would promise each other in the end; and he would promise her something else too. But for now; their time was their own and they embraced their freedom, the freedom that they shared together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Simply wanted a tease, a big tease considering everything. I would have gone deeper with what was happening at the end of this chapter but then I thought because I’d managed to write over 5,000 words for this chapter – I decided that this was the perfect way to end it. I know, I know maybe no more cliff-hangers but we must leave some things to our imagination. – Devil.


	5. Someday Never Comes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of Hogwarts was the final conflict that took place during the Second Wizarding War and it took place in the early hours of 2nd May 1998 within the castle and grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with there being heavy losses on both sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit different than what I intended because of how I left the last one to finish but I thought it would be good to visit the past and then start back where I have identified when this story takes place due to the timeline having been adjusted. Thank you for your support so far. If you have any questions either review or message me.

 

* * *

 

_“Before me things created were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.” – Dante, Inferno._

* * *

  **May 1 st, 1998.**

* * *

 

   ....

 _“Neville, what the – how?” Harry spluttered but Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight – he was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: one of his eyes was swollen, yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face and Harry assumed he’d been living rough._ _This was not the Hogwarts they remembered. I_ _t was different, this year as everything changed after the death of their Headmaster Albus Dumbledore – as Severus Snape replaced him as Headmaster and the Carrows had started to teach Muggle Studies and Dark Arts instead of Defence Against the Dark Arts._

_"I knew you’d come! Kept telling Seamus it was only a matter of time,” Neville told them before saying that if they thought his injuries were bad, Seamus was far worse with him then telling Aberforth that there might be more people on the way._

_"Couple more?” repeated Aberforth, ominously. “What do you mean a couple more, Longbottom? There’s a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!”_

_Neville told him that they would be Apparating directly into the bar and that he needed to send them down the passage when they arrived with him then holding his hand out to Hermione and helped her to climb up on to the mantelpiece and into the tunnel._

_Ron followed, then Neville and Harry was the last to go after addressing Aberforth with there being smooth stone steps on the other side: it made it seem like the passageway had been there for years with brass lamps hanging from the walls and the earthy floor was worn and smooth._ _They walked, their shadows rippled, fanlike across the wall. Ron asked many questions, wanting to know how long the passage had been there and if it had been on the Marauder’s Map with him also realising that there were only seven passages in and out of the school._

_“They sealed off all of those before the start of the year,” said Neville, explaining how there were curses over the entrances and Death Eaters as well as Dementors were waiting at the exits, as he started to walk backwards, beaming._

_“Never mind that stuff, is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It’s everywhere, everyone is talking about it. Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!”_

_“It’s true,” said Harry._

_Neville was happy to hear that it was true and wondered what they had done with the dragon with Ron telling him that they had released it into the wild, after trying to say that Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet. She_ _rolled her eyes at him, but it was a relief in a sense that they were met with a friendly face though she did wish that it was under different circumstances. It had been a difficult year, especially since they had been on the run for months; without being able to see loved ones, at least not without taking risks._

_“Tell us about Hogwarts, Neville.”_

_“It’s not really like Hogwarts anymore,” Neville murmured, the smile disappearing from his face as he spoke. “Do you know about the Carrows?”_

_“The ones who teach here?”_

_“They do more than teach, Ron. They’re in charge of discipline, they like punishment.” It was strange for Harry to know that they were far worse than Umbridge had been, she had been vile enough – but to know that the Cruciatius Curse was being used on students made them all feel sick._

_Harry, Ron and Hermione listened to every piece of information that Neville told them, as they had been cut off from what was happening in Hogwarts even though they had listened to Potterwatch and they got some information off Bill and Fleur, before leaving Shell Cottage._ _All three of them were shocked when they found out that they had gone after Neville’s grandmother, Augusta Longbottom and how Auror Dawlish was in St Mungo’s and Augusta was on the run with her being proud of her grandson – and to keep doing what he had been doing for months._

_They turned a corner and there ahead of them was the end of the passage, another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana’s portrait with Neville being the one to push it open with Harry following him – then Ron and Hermione._

_“Harry!”_

_“Potter, it’s Potter…”_

_“Ron! Hermione!”_

_The next moment, the three were engulfed, getting hugged or pounded on the back, their hair messed or even their hands shaken by what seemed to be more than twenty people. Neville was the one who told the crowd to calm down, as well as to back away._

_Hermione didn’t recognise the room at all as it was enormous and rather like the interior of a sumptuous tree house with there being multicoloured hammocks strung from the ceiling and from a balcony that ran around the dark wood-panelled and windowless walls which were covered in bright tapestry hangings._

_She saw the gold Gryffindor lion emblazoned on scarlet; the black badger of Hufflepuff set against yellow and the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw on blue. The silver and green of Slytherin alone were absent with there being bulging bookcases, a few broomsticks and in the corner, a large wooden cased wireless._

_“Room of Requirement, of course!” said Neville, as Harry or Ron must have asked where they were as Hermione was taking it all in for the first time; it felt unnatural to be inside Hogwarts after months of being away._

_“And the Carrows can’t get in?” asked Harry, looking around as Hermione thought that she missed half a conversation as she was looking around – for more familiar faces to appear._

_Seamus Finnigan explained how it worked though Harry and Ron both shared a look at first, as they hadn’t recognised his face until he spoke as his face was bruised and puffy. Once everything was said and other people were identified like Lavender Brown, both Patil twins, Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner._

_It was on to the next task as Harry had to explain but before he could – there was a terrible, scorching pain in the lightning scar and afterwards, sweat dripped from his face and Ron was holding him up with him sharing a look at Ron and Hermione after telling Neville that he was fine._ _Time was running out fast: if Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next, they would miss their chance and once he told them that they needed to get going; both understood why and Harry was the one to bare the bad news – to those who were eager for them to stay as Harry, Ron and Hermione weren’t to stay once they got the Horcrux._

_They didn’t know that it would be a battle, that there would be a battle inside Hogwarts and not somewhere else – like somewhere more open than where they were. No one assumed anything would change except Harry, Ron and Hermione having to get to the next Horcrux._

_It seemed to be a long conversation, though realistically it was rather short and before Harry could finish what he was going to say despite not knowing what he was going to say – how he was going to explain it without telling those in front of him the truth. The tunnel door behind him opened with Luna and Dean being the ones to come through with Seamus giving a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best-friend._

_“Luna, what are you doing here? How did you…” Harry said, distracted now as his eyes widened at the sight of her – he was surprised to see her and Dean as the last they saw of them was at Shell Cottage._

_“I sent for her, I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up – that I’d let them know, we all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows,” Neville told him, Ron and Hermione – all three sharing a look between them._

_Their return wasn’t for a revolution to start. It was to end it – to get one of the last remaining Horcruxes and to finish the mission that they had started, that Harry had been given by Dumbledore and the reason why they never returned for their Seventh Year._

_“You’re going to leave us in this mess?” Michael Corner demanded, outraged by the words spoken to Harry who felt Hermione’s hand suddenly encase his upper-right arm, in a tight grip._

_“No,” said Ron who was trying to diffuse the tension, telling them that what they were doing will benefit everyone in the end and how it was about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who._

_“Let us help, then!” said Neville, angrily._

_There was another noise behind them and Harry turned with Ron and Hermione soon turning around to face those who were coming through the tunnel next. Ginny climbed through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Fred, George and Lee Jordan._

_“Aberforth is getting a bit annoyed,” said George, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting as Fred made his way over to Hermione, to embrace her as it was so long since the couple had seen each other._

_Harry’s mouth fell open as right behind Lee Jordan was Cho Chang, Harry’s old girlfriend who soon walked over to sit beside Michael Corner as Fred demanded to know what the plan was, despite getting a sharp elbow to the ribs – courtesy of Hermione._

_“There isn’t one,” said Harry, disorientated by the sudden appearance of everyone, unable to take everything in while his scar was still burning so fiercely but he had felt relief when he saw how close Fred and Hermione were standing to each other._

_“Just going to make it up as we go along, are we?” Fred was amused by the thought as he was happy to see his girlfriend, his brother and Harry – though he suspected that if everything worked out, if his sister reunited with her boyfriend then it would make Harry James Potter, his brother in law._

_“You’ve got to stop this!” Harry told Neville, urgently and was spluttering all sorts of words – telling him that it was insane, and demanded to know why he asked them all back._

_Hermione and Fred seemed to be focused on each other, rather than the conversation or argument that was starting between some members of the old Dumbledore’s Army which was slowly being put back together again._

_"We heard about Gringotts,” murmured Fred to her, as he was trying to focus on Hermione and not everyone else; though it seemed selfish at that moment in time._

_Hermione didn’t know what to say, all she thought was how it had been so long since they were reunited and if they did do what they intended to do then left Hogwarts – it could be months until she saw Fred again._ _Their embrace was interrupted when Ron suddenly turned to Harry, asking him why they couldn’t help and Hermione pulled away, almost instantly – as if it was her first instinct despite the locket having been destroyed before their ordeal in Malfoy Manor and Gringotts._

_"They can help,” he dropped his voice and said, so that none of them could hear but Hermione who was suddenly between them – as George stopped Fred from pulling her back. “We don’t know where to look, we’ve got to find it fast…”_

_The three looked at each other, as Hermione agreed with Ron and when Harry looked totally unconvinced, Fred felt like punching him since he noticed that it wasn’t his brother who spoke – it was his girlfriend. “You don’t have to do everything alone, Harry.”_

_All noise ceased once Harry, Ron and Hermione agreed – Fred and George, who had started telling jokes for the benefit of those nearest fell silent and all of them looked alert but excited. It wouldn’t be long before the battle began – where everything would change but for now, it was all about finding the Horcrux, Ravenclaw’s Diadem…_

_…._

_Luna and Harry reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement after meeting crowds of students, most wearing travelling cloaks over their pyjamas being ushered down to the Great Hall by teachers and prefects._ _The two of them were under strict instructions to return to their friends and bring them to the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall with Harry being the one to lean against the enchanted wall which opened to admit them inside._

_“Wha…” Harry slipped down a few stairs in shock as the room came into view, it was packed and far more crowded than when he had last been in there._

_Kingsley and Lupin were looking up at him, as were Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, Bill and Fleur, and Mr and Mrs Weasley. It was Lupin who met him at the foot of the stairs, asking what was going on._ _Voldemort was on his way; that’s what Harry had to tell them – telling them that the staff were barricading the school and that Snape had fled. Fred was the one who told him and Luna that they had sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore’s Army._

 _The crowd soon thinned out after Harry told them that they were evacuating the younger children and that everyone was meeting in the Great Hall to get organised; as this would be the beginning of the battle – the final fight._ _Mrs Weasley was struggling with Ginny and around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur – with Molly being adamant that Ginny was not capable of fighting, that she was under age and that she couldn’t permit her only daughter to fight._

 _It started an argument – an argument that Harry secretly hoped Molly would win so then Ginny would be away from the danger, away from what was to come._ _There was scuffling and a great thump, someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly and fallen. He pulled himself up onto the nearest chair, looking around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses._

_“Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out so I…” Percy spluttered into silence, evidently he had not expected to run into most of his family. There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur who turned to Remus, asking how Teddy was – to break the tension that was stifling._

_Once the tension was broken and the short reunion was finished; Fleur and Percy hurried off towards the staircase with Bill, Fred and George. Mrs Weasley had calmed down once Ginny rather reluctantly agreed to stay behind in the Room of Requirements – and it was Fred who turned after Harry demanded to know where Hermione and Ron were._ _Fred had been halfway up the staircase at that point and looked as though he grimaced at the abruptness of his own movements as George almost walked into him. The twins were going to be one of the last to leave, except for Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley, Remus and Harry._

_“They must have gone up to the Great Hall already,” said Mr Weasley, as he along with his wife and Remus were making their way over to the staircase as George tried to push Fred, so he could turn back to finish going up the stairs._

_“I didn’t see them pass…”_

_“They said something about a bathroom, not long after you left with Luna,” Fred told him, as he was displeased to be separated from his girlfriend once again and almost put his hand in his pocket – where a small black box was concealed._

_He hoped it wouldn’t fall out during the battle._

_“You sure they said bathroom?” said Harry, confused as he strode across the room to an open door leading off from the Room of Requirement and checked the bathroom beyond; it was empty –_

_…The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead: two stone gargoyles which usually guarded the entrance to the staff room had been smashed apart by a jinx which sailed through another broken window._ _Their remains stirred feebly and as Harry leapt over one of their disembodied heads, it groaned faintly, “Oh, don’t mind me…I’ll just lie here and crumble…”_

 _It wasn’t long before Harry hurtled around a corner and found Fred and a small knot of students including Lee Jordan and Hannah Abbott standing beside another empty plinth, whose statue concealed a secret passageway – their wands were drawn._ _“Nice night for it!” shouted Fred, as the castle shook once more and Harry sprinted by, elated and terrified with a small bit of hope that it wouldn’t be long before Hermione and Ron would appear again, with Ron being able to reunite with Percy and Hermione could reunite with Fred once more._

_Another corner was gone as Harry ran off, after brief words with Aberforth Dumbledore; there was a yell of relief and fury that escaped him as he saw Ron and Hermione, both with their arms full of large, curved, dirty yellow objects and Ron with a broomstick under his arm._

_“Where the hell have you two been?” shouted Harry._

_“Chamber of Secrets,” Ron and Hermione said, almost at the same time with Harry being confused at first as he came to an unsteady halt before them._

_It wasn’t long before the three were separated as Hermione went off to find Fred – as Ron ordered her to go while him and Harry were tasked to look for the diadem in the Room of Requirements and destroy it, not knowing what was to come._

_Ginny, Tonks and Augusta Longbottom were told to leave the Room of Requirement though Harry shouted at Ginny’s back – telling her that she had to come back in before Ron and Harry set on searching for the diadem._

_In the minutes that they spent in the Room of Requirement – the situation within the castle had deteriorated severely: the walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever, dust filled the air and through the nearest window they saw bursts of green and red lights close to the foot of the castle._

_Aberforth was the one to tell Tonks that Remus had been duelling Dolohov, with him not seeing the man since and Ginny tried to tell her that he was okay – but Tonks had run off into the dust after Aberforth which made the red-head turn, helpless to Harry and Ron…_

_“They’ll be all right,” Harry told her, not wishing to be the bearer of bad news if anything did happen and it was clear to him that her next question would be about Hermione. The golden trio hadn’t been separated for long, in a while – not since Malfoy Manor at least but that was different._

_Telling her to be safe, to keep out of the way – he and Ron had run off, running back to the stretch of wall beyond which the Room of Requirement was waiting to do the bidding of the next entrant with them having to go into the place where everything is hidden._ _Neither knew what would happen next; they couldn’t simply know what was to come – how they would save the lives of Gregory Goyle and Draco Malfoy, how the diadem would be destroyed in the Fiendfyre that Vincent Crabbe created or the events that would follow –_

* * *

**May 2 nd, 1998.**

* * *

 

 _The Death Eaters came to a halt: Harry heard them spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. He could see, through his closed lids – the reddish glow that meant light was streamed upon him from the Entrance Hall._ _Any moment, the people for whom he had tried to die for would see him, lying apparently dead in Hagrid’s arms._

 _“No!” The scream was more terrible because Harry never expected Professor McGonagall could make such a sound and there_ _was laughter nearby, as Bellatrix was revelling in the despair that Harry’s death caused and he squinted again, seeing the open doorway filling with people as survivors of the battle came out on to the front steps, to face their vanquishers._ _To see the truth._

_Ron and Ginny’s voices were worse than McGonagall’s with Harry wanting nothing more to call back yet he made himself like silent – his thoughts turned to focus on why he couldn’t hear Hermione screaming or shouting as the crowd of survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eaters –_

_It didn’t take long before Nagini was dead, the last horcrux was gone and chaos began with the wizards, witches, defenders of Hogwarts and Voldemort’s Death Eaters alike being forced back into the castle as there was reinforcements._ _Harry went into the Entrance Hall, searching for Voldemort and saw him across the room, firing spells as he backed into the Great Hall – still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying left and right which made Harry cast more Shield Charms._

 _Charlie Weasley overtook Horace Slughorn, they had returned with what looked like families and friends of every Hogwarts student who remained to fight along with shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade._ _More reinforcements arrived such as centaurs and house-elves with the chaos not having stopped, the battle wasn’t over yet. Yaxley was slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, both working together and Harry’s eyes searched for Hermione – he couldn’t see her as Ron and Neville were taking down Fenrir Greyback._

 _Aberforth had Stunned Rookwood while Arthur and Percy floored Thicknesse as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy ran through the crowd, screaming for their son while not even attempting to fight – as what mattered to them was their only son, as Narcissa had been ‘told’ by Harry that he was alive._ _Voldemort was duelling Slughorn, Kingsley and McGonagall all at once and there was cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him while Bellatrix was battling: Lavender, Ginny and Luna, all battling their hardest._

_A Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch but as Harry started to run towards them – he was knocked sideways by Molly Weasley, who was enraged._

_“Not my daughter, you bitch!”_

_The duel was fierce and hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fighters – Voldemort and his three opponents and Bellatrix and Molly with Harry standing, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack._

_“What will happen to your children when I’ve killed you?” taunted Bellatrix, as Molly’s curses danced around her. The last words that she uttered was her taunt about Fred and the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius gave as he toppled through the veil and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen._

_Everything after that seemed fast pace and when Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his white hands empty and the snake-like face vacant and unknowing. Lord Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy’s body._

_One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended and then the silence broke – the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows and the first to reach him was Ron._

_Ginny, Neville and Luna were there, then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and everyone else came bounding forward. The Great Hall blazed with life and light but Harry wondered what was the price that had been paid._

_Once Ron and Harry went up to the Headmaster’s Office, once he had mended his broken wand and told Dumbledore’s portrait that he would put the Elder Wand back where it belonged – and if the Master died of natural causes then the power would be broken essentially._

_They went back to the Great Hall with George having bounded towards them, his expression was full of grief but he wanted to know where Hermione was – and Harry felt guilty in that moment as he didn’t think, as everything had been so much._

_“We thought she was…” Ron stuttered, his eyes suddenly focusing on the people who were there as now it was calm again, with families having been reunited and then he looked towards where the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Creevey and fifty others were._

_“If she isn’t here, and she’s not there then…” Harry couldn’t make the rest of the words come out of his mouth; he didn’t want to believe it – he had last seen Hermione being hugged by George so fiercely, that it made his heart ache._

_“We’ll search for her.” Ron promised him, as he then turned to go over to Luna and Neville who were sitting side by side near Lavender._

_It would be a long search, a search that would last a while and take time but there would be no good ending, as Hermione Granger was laying on the cold ground, slowly dying away from Hogwarts – after her last fight took her somewhere else._

_Away from her friends, her family, away from everyone._

* * *

**  
Somewhere in the West Country, England - March 2014.**

* * *

 

The stars brightened the cloudless and dark sky in the West Country of England with a tall, unruly black-haired, almond-shaped green-eyed man having walked into his home from a long day in the Auror Department when he noticed his wife who had flaming-red hair and bright-brown eyes sitting at the table in the kitchen.

Ginny greeted Harry with a kiss on the cheek after standing up once he got close enough to his wife as her brother, George was sitting across from his sister – nodding to him in a silent greeting as he clutched a cup of tea.

It was a shock for Harry to see him sitting there, considering how late it was, so late in fact that all three of his children were asleep or should have been sleeping. James Sirius was the eldest then it was Albus Severus and their younger sister, Lily Luna.

 “It’ll be fourteen years, this year…” George murmured, his eyes flickering over to the Daily Prophet that was laid out in the middle of the table – the front page had news about the upcoming 427th Quidditch World Cup but it had an old photograph in the centre and a new headline.

 Harry almost sighed as he knew exactly how long it had been since the Battle of Hogwarts on the 2nd May – how many years since Lord Voldemort was defeated, how many years that passed since Hermione and Fred died; though there was always the mystery of no-body being found.

“What did they write?” asked Harry, warily as he accepted the offer of a strong cup of tea and chose to sit across from his brother-in-law; wondering how everything was fairing for him at home.

It was hard on them all but the one who suffered the most was George; the loss of his twin had a deep effect on him and knowing that Fred was going to propose to the love of his life – presumably after the battle ended and they were reunited was difficult to know.

Losing himself in his thoughts once more; as George who was helped by Ginny to explain what was in the article and what had been said as George made the point of visiting his mother and father as soon as he had been given the paper by his wife, Angelina.

Harry was remembering how everything changed; how it all seemed to end right there when Fred died and then Hermione disappeared; with them not witnessing what happened – not like they should have, as Harry wondered if them being there would have made a difference.

Fred had told Hermione to go and search for George, as the twins had been separated and he told her to fight alongside his brother, with her having been so reluctant not only to leave Harry and Ron to destroy one of the last remaining Horcruxes but to leave the love of her life.

He seemed to complete her, just like Ginny completed Harry – they were what some of the older generation would consider as _soul-mates_ but there was no such thing of soul scars or anything like that. They were just some sort of fairy-tale to tell the children at night. 

_The castle was unnaturally silent, there were no flashes of light, no bangs or screams or shouts. The flagstones of the deserted Entrance Hall were stained with blood – emeralds scattered all over the floor with pieces of marble and splintered wood._

_“Where is everyone?” his dear friend, Hermione whispered – but it was more to herself than to him and to Ron, the two didn’t have an answer as Ron was the one to lead them to the Great Hall and pushed the thick large oak doors open to reveal what happened during the battle._

_The house tables were gone and the Hall was crowded – survivors stood in groups, their arms around each other, the injured were being treated up on the raised platform by Madam Pomfrey and a group of healers. Ron was the first to walk through the hall and Harry followed, as Hermione remained still – eyeing everything up – the rubble, the injured, those who weren’t and those of the dead._

_Ron had stopped walking at some point; making Harry walk into him. He said his friend’s name in a low tone, before his eyes saw what his best-friend saw. There was one of the Weasley twins on a stretcher, unmoving, unseeing and Harry’s heart almost stopped._

_In realization; as George pulled away from the hug his father Arthur was giving him, clearly having heard him speak his brother’s name and his eyes darted towards the two as Hermione was still lingering behind them. Bill and Fleur were comforting one another while Ginny stood close to Charlie and Percy; as Molly had her head buried into Fred’s shoulder, crying._

_Harry’s heart sank, as George hugged Ron, tears strolling down his cheeks and they heard the first anguished gasp that escaped Hermione’s lips – literally as Ginny whispered her name; all the Weasleys having known of Fred and Hermione’s relationship._ _George soon pulled away from Ron, watching him kneel next to their mother and then he forced himself to get past Harry, with his arms suddenly wrapping around Hermione’s waist as it was like they could feel each other’s pain. There wasn’t just one hole; there was two._

_Cruel, twisted fate had taken Fred away from them._

_Hermione’s body trembled and shook –_

“Harry?” asked Ginny, her gaze was filled with concern as her husband was lost in his own thoughts, in the memory of what happened, all those years earlier.

“Did I miss something?” he asked, carefully as he glanced towards George who had a flash of pain in his gaze; before it disappeared, like he knew what he had been thinking about.

Ginny shook her head, glancing towards George with sadness in her eyes as it was hard for Harry to speak about Hermione; as he always thought her of a sister, the sister he never had and he couldn’t share the peace with her – she had died away from Hogwarts grounds. They never truly knew what happened to her; only that Aurors scoured for her all-over Wizarding Britain before searching the Muggle World at Harry and Ron’s request of not wanting their friend to remain missing and presumed dead with it all taking time.

Lord Voldemort had been defeated; Death Eaters were either dead, imprisoned or under special circumstances – like the Malfoy’s where Lucius Malfoy got his wand removed from him for a length of time and his legacy put in the hands of his son, Draco after Harry and Ron made it certain to testify at his trial. The dead were buried, the injured had to be healed and the Ministry faced severe repercussions because of the infiltration during the war and then having to get those who were wrongfully imprisoned – released from Azkaban with it being chaos for months.

“Some are trying to say that because there was no… _body,_ she’s not dead and therefore there is no right for her to have a gravestone at…”

Harry restrained himself from slamming his fist against the table; taking a deep breath and then gripped his cup of tea, tight before raising it to his lips and took several sips of the hot liquid which burned the back of his throat yet he didn’t care. “If she was alive, if there was any sign of her being alive – and safe then she _would_ have come back now, she wouldn’t have just left and she’d never would have wanted everyone to presume her…”

Ginny’s hand suddenly pressed against his and she squeezed tightly, she knew the pain that he felt over the entire subject – he was always short-tempered during the lead up to the remembrance of the Battle of Hogwarts, the final battle in the Second Wizarding War. But it was two months away and whoever wrote the article which was not Rita Skeeter, despite the author having asked certain people on their opinions and their thoughts with one witch, telling the author that they didn’t have the right to besmirch the memory of the dead.

“We know,” murmured George who looked towards him, knowing that it most likely didn’t help when Harry and Ron had an argument about many things, a few nights earlier – one was how they had never buried Hermione’s body, because they could never find it.

Ron spent two years being an Auror and then left the profession, becoming the co-manager of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes with George, becoming a valuable member to the joke shop emporium that George and Fred created together before Fred died.  The brothers as in Bill, Charlie, Percy, George and Ron kept a well-hidden secret from their mother, Molly as George had found a small box in the pocket of his twin’s jacket, after the battle ended.

It contained an engagement ring.

They all had to agree to keep it a secret as it would only cause for further heart-break for the family, though Percy and Ron were both reluctant – they were adamant at first that the others needed to know but the only one out of the others that didn’t know except for Bill’s wife, Fleur – was Harry. Ginny did know however; because she forced it out of Ron to say something about it – as she hated them being so mysterious as she once caught George, Charlie and Bill speaking quietly in the garden while throwing cautious glances towards where their mother was.

There was a noise from upstairs before footsteps could be heard coming down them as James had woken up, or was staying up incredibly late; he was clearly coming down for a drink and their conversation seemed to end with Harry greeting his eldest son; after getting out of his chair once he drained the last of his strong, but now lukewarm tea.  

James had brown eyes like his mother and had brown hair while his younger brother, Albus had almond-shaped bright green eyes, untidy jet-black hair like his father and a thin face with him being the only child of the Potter family to inherit his paternal grandmother, Lily and his father Harry’s almond-shaped green eyes. Albus was compared to Harry more than James was; as the second child born to Harry and Ginny looked very much like Harry did when he was younger, though he wouldn’t go through the same treatment as Harry did growing up.

“Why is there a Daily Prophet on the table?” asked James, curiously but he had seen the headline earlier, saw how annoyed his mother was and how Albus commented about their Uncle George having been there for hours.

Albus was the one who was more curious in the sense of wanting to learn about the uncle and aunt that he would never meet – Fred and Hermione died in the same battle that Teddy lost his parents in, though no one ever explained the full details surrounding the deaths of Fred and Hermione.

James wanted to believe that his Aunt died when his Uncle did; but he knew despite only being almost ten years old that it was wishful thinking as he would often overhear his father and his uncle Ron discussing how they missed Hermione; their best-friend, their sister despite no blood-relation.

George shared a look with his younger sister; then glanced at Harry who grimaced at the question but the three knew that they would learn about the Battle of Hogwarts, about the Second Wizarding War – of the good and the bad, everything that could be learnt as Minerva McGonagall put it onto the curriculum at Hogwarts after speaking to the Ministry, that they needed to learn from the past.

“It’ll be fourteen years, this year.” Ginny told her son, softly as she grabbed a mug and was making some hot cocoa – not just for him, but for everyone as she hoped that it would calm her husband and make him relax, even if the conversation changed. James would only read the next Daily Prophet and more than likely; there would be other comments from those who read the paper or even the Evening one as it sometimes glossed over what had been said in the Daily Prophet; or even featured a whole new article on a subject.

“Since the battle?” asked James, his eyes widening as he glanced at his father then back over to his mother who was now standing by the stove; despite using her magic with him not needing any of them to answer the question; as he saw the expressions on their faces. He may only be a boy of nine, almost ten and that he was a year away from studying at Hogwarts, he was curious about the war, the war that made his father more famous for defeating Lord Voldemort or as his father called him – Tom Riddle.

“Aunt Hermione was mentioned in the paper,” Harry told his son, softly as three steaming mugs of hot cocoa were placed down with a fourth following as Ginny was always careful – she was taught by her mother, how to cook and to prepare everything but she had learned some tricks of her own as well. One would question as to why they called Hermione, their Aunt but Harry nor Ron wouldn’t want them growing up without knowing her, neither would George who told his own children stories about their Uncle Fred, his twin brother and they sometimes got out the photograph albums that featured the couple in.

If they were alive and well; they’d be married and would have had children of their own but this was different, it was not a fairy-tale ending for all of them. Harry had to respect the wishes of his best-friend, his sister who he would only ever see in the after-life, as after all he had seen Albus Dumbledore.

_Death was the next greatest adventure._

The questions were not endless as one would believe they would be; coming from a nearly ten-year-old boy with him being sent to bed after the first two yawns of tiredness escaped him and it was Harry who took his son upstairs, leaving his wife and brother-in-law to talk. Once George left; to return to his family home and spend time with his wife, Ginny cleared everything away and then simply told Harry that she was to have a bath before she would go to bed, knowing that he would not be joining her so quickly in the bedroom.

Harry was thinking about everything, about the last moments that he shared with Hermione – how he last saw her before he left for the Forbidden Forest and he regretted it. He regretted it because if he had only waited, then maybe she would have lived – though he swore to Ginny, to the others that he would stop blaming himself, after the years passed by.

_The realisation of what would happen next settled gradually over Harry in the long minutes, like softly falling snow and he wondered what it would be like – what it would mean to go on instead of going back. He did however ask Dumbledore, if he had to go back._

_“That is up to you.”_

_“I’ve got a choice?”_

_“Oh yes,” Dumbledore smiled. “We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to…let’s say…board a train.”_

_“And where would it take me?”_

_“On,” said Dumbledore, simply._

It slowly came back to him in pieces; sometimes fuller than usual and it was like completing a jigsaw in a way, a very complicated jigsaw and Harry wondered if in those moments – if Dumbledore knew what was happening, what had occurred in the Battle. If he had gone on instead of going back then the world would have not been the same as it was now as it was peaceful – for the most part; but there was no Lord Voldemort, no constant fear of dying or his friends dying instead.

All was well…but was it?

_Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say goodbye for the present._

Those words stuck with him, to this very day but there was a family that he cared about torn apart as the Weasleys’ were torn apart with the loss of Fred, though as George rightly stated – he and Hermione would want them to live fiercely, to enjoy their lives. The Grangers were never the same; as Harry and Ron did try and search for them but because it was Hermione who knew where she sent them; and how strong the memory charm was – it was irreversible as the two had spent many long nights, researching it all.

He made a promise with himself; before he retreated up the stairs for the night that he would visit Hermione’s grave at Godric’s Hollow as he had commissioned a headstone for her, despite her having never lived in Godric’s’ Hollow – he would be able to see her grave, and the graves of his parents. Going up the stairs was harder that night than any other night before; the Daily Prophet brought back memories that he didn’t so much as want to forget; rather not to be reminded by some reporter who was saying that Hermione could be still alive.

If she was alive; she’d be with them – she’d be mourning Fred, or if the two were so lucky, they’d be together, in their own home with their children or a child on the way. But that wasn’t the case; it was only him and Ron, two halves of the golden trio.  Harry breathed deeply as he entered the master bedroom which he shared with his lovely wife and he had to clear his mind; to focus on something else and as he started taking the robes off that he wore to work – he saw Ginny leave the bathroom with nothing but a towel covering her.

He told himself; that he was a lucky man. He was lucky to find such a good soul in his life, someone who understood when to be there and when not to be there; they were _soul-mates_ as they were more in tune with each other now than they had been when they were younger.

Getting ready for bed; he kissed his wife passionately as they got into bed and just this once, they wished to stay in bed a little later than normal but with three children – it would be a miracle especially if James was tormenting his younger brother Albus or if Lily was disturbing her brothers.

All was well…at the Potters.


	6. No One's Here To Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella Swan knew one thing that was certain, Edward Cullen was a vampire while the rumours that were spreading in Forks about the McCarty twins were true - they were leaving but no one knew exactly when. (There is a slight time jump in this because I wanted to move things forward in this chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never intended to write the last chapter, the way it was written because I had a whole idea in my head that was completely different to what was written and then I thought to myself why shouldn't I visit the past, visit old friends and then visit them again in the present. I also needed a way to clear up the timeline because to have it set in 2005/2006 was not ideal for this story and for certain characters like Hermione to be able to be out in the open after so little time passed. I made it so there was enough time passed without it being too far so we couldn't visit certain characters.

* * *

 

_“You taught me the courage of stars before you left. How light carries on endlessly, even after death. With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite. How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.” – Saturn, Sleeping at Last._

* * *

 

  **August 1995**

* * *

 

  _Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob which was shaped like a serpent’s head and opened the door with him having caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged twin-bedded room before there was a loud twittering noise then a louder shriek._ _His vision was obscured by a large quantity of brown hair, Hermione had thrown herself on him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat on his back while Ron’s tiny owl Pigwidgeon zoomed excitedly round and round their heads._

_“Harry! Ron, he’s here! We didn’t hear you arrive, how are you? Are you alright? Have you been angry with us?” Hermione asked, not giving him much time to even try and attempt to answer one of the many questions that she asked as she spoke even more, telling him how they knew about the Ministry hearing._

_“Let him breathe, Hermione,” Ron told her, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry and he seemed to have grown several more inches during their month apart, making him taller looking than ever though the bright red hair and freckles were the same._

_Hermione let go of Harry but before she could say another word, there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry’s shoulder. Hedwig, the snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as he stroked her feathers._

_“She’s been in a right state, pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters…” Ron muttered, showing Harry his index finger of his right hand which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut and Harry felt apologetic about it._

_It wasn’t long before Harry started shouting and his frustration at the lack of the news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not being told about it – all the feelings he was half-ashamed of had finally burst. Hedwig took fright at the noise, soaring off to the top of the wardrobe again and Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm, zooming even faster around their heads._

_Ron was standing there, his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say whilst Hermione looked on the verge of tears. She tried to speak, tried to tell him that it was Dumbledore who made them swear not to say anything with Ron trying to help her – trying his hardest to calm Harry down._

_Harry glared at her after she managed to speak before breathing deeply, turning away from them again and paced up and down with Hedwig hooting glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken by the mournful creek of the floorboards below Harry’s feet._

_“What is this place, anyway?” he demanded, turning to look towards Ron and Hermione who glanced at each other._

_“Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,” Ron told him before Hermione explained that it was a secret society, formed by Dumbledore with there being people who fought against You-Know-Who last time in the Order._

_Ron presumed that there were over twenty members of the Order with Harry making Ron and Hermione flinch when he said Voldemort’s name. Demanding to know what was going on, where Lord Voldemort was and what they were doing to stop him._

_“The Order don’t let us in on their meetings,” said Hermione, nervously. “We’ve got a general idea,” she added hastily, after telling him that they didn’t know the details either._

_Fred and George were mentioned by Ron, as he told Harry about the Extendable Ears and how they were useful but they had to stop using them because Mrs Weasley found out and went mad with Fred and George having to hide them, to stop her from binning them._

_“We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know,” he told him as Hermione finished what Ron was going to say – telling Harry that some were working on recruiting more people to the Order._

_“Some are standing guard over something, they’re always talking about guard duty,” Ron mentioned to him before Harry’s response was rather sarcastic before he walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at his friends._

_Hermione told him that they had been decontaminating the house, having cleaned out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and how they should be focusing on cleaning the drawing room the following day before there were two loud cracks._ _Fred and George, Ron’s elder twin brothers materialised out of thin air in the middle of the room with Pigwidgeon twittering more wildly than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe. Hermione suddenly fiercely glared at Fred, but not George who was beaming at Harry – with Ron grimacing as Fred apologised to Hermione by kissing her on the cheek._

 _“We thought we heard your dulcet tones,” said George who rolled his eyes at Fred and Hermione who had been pulled closer to the twins by Fred rather than being near Harry and Ron._ _His twin brother was less than pleased with Harry, who assumed that Fred and George heard all the shouting that Harry had done – though it had been at them both; he didn’t like the fact that Harry had almost caused his girlfriend to cry._

_“You don’t want to bottle your anger up like that, Harry. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn’t hear you.” George told him; after giving his brother a warning look as he glanced over to Hermione whose arms were now down by her side._

_“You two passed your Apparition tests, then?” asked Harry, grumpily._

_“With distinction,” said Fred who took out a piece of very long, flesh-coloured string out of his pocket after whispering something too quiet to Hermione – for Harry, Ron and George to hear; though all three supposed it was for their best interest not to know what was said._

_“It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs,” said Ron, disgruntled by them._

_“Time is galleons, little brother,” said Fred who glanced towards Hermione who wanted to elbow him in the ribs, before he continued to tell Harry that he had been interfering with the reception and Harry raised his eyebrows._

_“Extendable Ears, we’re trying to hear what’s going on downstairs,” said George who gestured towards the string that Fred was holding up, with him seeing that it was trailing out on to the landing._

_“You want to be careful, if Mum sees one of them again…”_

_“It’s worth the risk, that’s a major meeting that they’re having,” Fred told his younger brother as Ron didn’t want his mother exploding with anger, like she had done the first time. It made the portrait of Sirius Black’s mother, Walburga shriek until they managed to force the curtains shut once more –_

_The door opened and Ginny appeared, with her greeting Harry first – telling him that she thought that she heard his voice and then turned to Fred and George, there was a little grimace on her face when Fred pulled Hermione back towards him; as gentle as he could._

_"It’s a no go with the Extendable Ears, she’s gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door.” Ginny told them before George wanted to know how as he looked crestfallen while waiting for the answer._

_Harry discovered that Tonks had told her how to find out as if the stuff that had been chucked at the door can’t make contact then the door had been Imperturbed. She then revealed that she had been flinging Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs which made Fred sigh._

_“I really fancied finding out what old Snape’s been up to,” muttered Fred before George carefully closed the door, sitting down on one of the beds with Ginny soon following then Fred and Hermione sat down next to each other._

_“Snape’s here?”_

_“Yeah, giving a report – top secret.”_

_“He’s on our side now,” muttered Hermione after Fred called Snape a git rather idly and he must have muttered something under his breath as there was another elbow to the ribs; one which made Fred mutter how that one hurt._

_“Doesn’t stop him being a git, Hermione. The way he looks at us when he sees us…” hissed Ron as Ginny told them that Bill didn’t like Snape, either as though it settled the matter with Harry soon sitting down on to the bed opposite the others._

_“Is Bill here? I thought he was working in Egypt?” asked Harry, curiously._

_“He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order,” Fred told him, after glancing towards George, Ron and Ginny. “He says he misses the tombs, but,” he smirked, “there are compensations, after all.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Remember Fleur Delacour?” said George. “She’s got a job at Gringotts to eemprove ‘er Eeenglish,”_

_“Bill’s been giving her a lot of private lessons,” Fred mentioned before moving away a little from the sharp elbow that was about to hit his ribs once more as George told Harry that Charlie was in the Order too, but he was still in Romania._

_Dumbledore wanted as many foreign wizards brought in as possible so Charlie was trying to make contacts on his days off but as soon as Harry asked if Percy could do that instead, all the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged significantly dark looks._

_“Whatever you do, don’t mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad,” Ron told Harry in a tense voice before Fred, Ginny and George explained everything that Harry had missed concerning their elder brother, Percy._

_“Percy and Dad had a row,” Fred told him, as Hermione squeezed his hand and he took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve never seen Dad row with anyone like that, it’s normally Mum who shouts.”_

_Percy had been promoted despite the incident with Crouch, the inquiry and everything that followed but now he had been offered a position in Fudge’s own office, a good one for someone who had only been out of Hogwarts a year._

_Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic._

_“...He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think.” Ron told him before Fred said that their father wasn’t impressed at all, the opposite in fact and it was George who explained that Fudge had been storming around the Ministry, checking that nobody’s having any contact with Dumbledore._

_“Dumbledore’s name is mud with the Ministry these days, see,” said Fred. “They all think he’s just making trouble saying that You-Know-Who’s back and Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who’s in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks,”_

_They finally got to what it had to do with Percy with Arthur thinking that the only reason his son got into Fudge’s office was so that he could use him to spy on the family and on Dumbledore before Harry was informed how Percy said a lot of terrible stuff._

_“…That Dad’s got no ambition and that’s why we’ve always been – you know – not had a lot of money, I mean…”_

_“What?” said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny looked unhappy about it before Ron explained how worse it got – how Percy said that if Arthur and Molly were going to become traitors to the Ministry then he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn’t belong to the family any more._

_Harry swore under his breath, as he never imagined Percy would say such things to Mr Weasley and didn’t expect to hear that his name had been dragged into the argument – how Percy said the only evidence about Voldemort being back was Harry’s word._

_“Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously,” said Hermione, and the others nodded as Fred then squeezed her hand before Harry demanded to know what she was on about which made them regard him warily._

_“Haven’t you been getting the Daily Prophet?” Hermione asked, nervously who kept hold of Fred’s hand and breathed deeply._

_“Yeah, I have. Why?”_

_“Have you been reading it thoroughly?” asked Ginny as she looked towards him and he told them that he hadn’t been reading it cover to cover; as he was more bothered about seeing news about Voldemort than anything else._

_The others flinched at the sound of the name and then Hermione told him that the Daily Prophet had mentioned him a few times, some of it was slipped in like a standing joke and how it was quite nasty for them to just build on Rita Skeeter’s stuff._

_After they spoke about the Daily Prophet and all its contents; Fred muttered something to Hermione after the conversation turned to the hearing and Harry did not want to think about it but he was saved the necessity of finding another subject to talk about when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs._ _Fred and George warily glanced at each other as Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug; then Fred kissed Hermione briefly which made Ron, Ginny and Harry look away before there was a loud crack and he and George vanished._

_Seconds later, Mrs Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway…_

* * *

 

**Seattle, Washington – March 2014.**

* * *

 

Hermione was lost in thought even though they were moving in the next day or so as they had packed most of their stuff up; having left their jobs within the allotted time and were finishing up everything so they could make their transfer…more manageable. She remembered that day in Grimmauld Place, how everything seemed to just fall together rather than apart and thought about how long it had been – how long she had been a vampire for; she’d only been one for fourteen years.

"Hermione, I'm talking to you, are you even listening?" 

"What?" Hermione looked round. Emmett, looking very annoyed had joined her in her bedroom which was practically empty now except for the chair she was sitting in and two suitcases as they were either selling their furniture or giving it to good will among other items that they didn't need as they could always buy new clothes while certain possessions were packed neatly and organised, to either be sent to the house in Forks or to be sent to their new property in Cambridge, England. 

It was a difficult move, for all of them but mostly her and Emmett who made the choice almost four-five months earlier when things started to become clearer as the family was estranged as it was with the two having left two years prior to everything that was happening now and had lived in the city with them visiting the family sporadically but since the arrival of Isabella Swan and all that entailed...it was even less now. 

"What were you saying?" 

"I asked you if you wanted any of the boxes that have charity written on them to go today," said Emmett, frustrated that his sister hadn't been paying close attention, she hadn't been since she returned from her short stay with Garrett which did her a whole world of good, it seemed but left her more distracted than ever and since they were so close to getting everything sorted; it made it hard to see the deadline. 

Realistically, Emmett wanted to leave that night so they could go to Alaska, see their cousins and then they could get the flight out to England and settle in to their new home, their new surroundings and figure out where they were going to hunt among other things. They had to support themselves as they didn't want help from Carlisle; as though they weren't cutting ties with the family and becoming nomadic - they wanted to do it themselves. 

"Oh," she muttered then nodded as she got up, warily glancing at him as his expression softened as she was willing to go with him to where they were going to give some boxes of stuff that they didn't need, didn't want or had no use for with them having started the process as soon as she returned and she did tell him that things weren't easy but Garrett was willing to visit. 

"Maybe, if we can get everything done in the next two...three hours, we can leave." Emmett suggested; as their suitcases were packed and they were going to be travelling light considering most of the stuff would be dropped off at the Cullens or to where they were getting their things shipped from to the next country; it was fairly easy for them to do it in two-three hours. 

They did have vampire speed, after all. 

"Tonight?" 

He simply nodded. 

It didn't take them long to finish everything up as the two used vampire speed to clean the entire apartment from top to bottom without even thinking of pausing for a break as the two were on a mission to get it all done as Emmett would be the one to take the jeep back to Forks, back to the house then he would get picked up by Hermione at the diner as they were using a rental car for the night since she sold hers. 

Emmett knew by the time they had finished everything, that the two were on a tighter deadline as he half-wanted to avoid everyone but as it was apparent that he wouldn't be able to do that - he knew that time was essence as they had booked a flight and had to be on it because they didn't want to wait around any longer despite being a day ahead of schedule; it was done on purpose at least that's what he told himself. 

Driving from Seattle to Forks with as much stuff as they could pack in the jeep was daunting for him as he left Hermione behind to make sure that all their belongings that they were shipping to Cambridge were sorted out and all of it was paid for as they didn't expect to stay long in Alaska, though they managed to cover themselves if they did end up taking longer than necessary - it was going to be an agonising three hour drive as his thoughts tormented him. 

Alice was sitting on the porch, waiting for him. He pulled to a stop in front of the house rather than going around to the garage and she seemed disgruntled as she looked up at him as he got out of the jeep; starting to check everything was still sealed and she didn't say anything at first until she told him that Carlisle was in his study and he should at least say goodbye to him. 

He had said his goodbyes to Rosalie when she had come to Seattle, as they spent a whole day together and then it was time to part ways as she had to go back to the normal routine that she had and they didn't know if they were going to be reunited later in the year or further down the line as the two barely spent time apart until these last two years made it certain that they could spend time apart from each other. 

Like Hermione could spend time away from Garrett; though the time that passed between his sister seeing Carlisle's old friend would be lengthy if it was not for him to intervene and to force her to go and see him or if the two managed to see each other if he ever ventured as far as Seattle Washington, though he often stuck to other places despite being a nomad. 

"Thank you," Emmett said, messing with her hair as he passed with him knowing that he would have to get the boxes out of the jeep and move them into a room, most likely the one that Hermione had when she was staying at the house, despite it being mostly empty now considering she had moved things around or even got Esme to move things into storage. 

"You are going to say goodbye, aren't you?" Alice asked him, before he could go through the front door as he opened it and then hesitated, turning around and he nodded; as she knew that Hermione wasn't going to say her goodbyes - she had done them already with his expression not being as easy to read as it should have been with him not questioning where Edward or Jasper were. 

"Yes." 

Emmett soon went through the door and hurried up to Carlisle's study with him waiting for him, his eyes on the door rather than the thick book on his desk and he told him that he heard Alice tell him where to find him. It was a relief to see him, as Emmett thought that he would have been at work and it was wishful thinking that he wouldn't see anyone before he left. 

It was harder to leave, if he saw everyone. 

"Did Alice tell you...?" 

"She said that you changed your mind, that you two are leaving tonight instead of...tomorrow or even in a few days." Carlisle knew it would be hard, it was harder now because there was Emmett standing in the doorway of his study, not even coming in and shutting the door - he merely stood there; his shoulders were hunched a little as he slouched instead of having his back straight. 

"We thought it was better that way so I booked us on a flight to Fairbanks." 

"Where is she?" 

"In Seattle, or maybe she's on her way to...the diner in town," Emmett's throat felt like it had a huge lump in it as he spoke to his  _adoptive_ father who well was actually only three years or so older than him in human years which was why it seemed so hard for it to be pulled off but now their story was going to change; the McCarty twins were leaving Washington for  _good._

"She's not coming here then." Carlisle's eyes filled with an emotion that Emmett knew well from him as in the fourteen years of him having transformed Hermione, there was often a look that would appear in his eyes when he thought about the youngest member of the family; the one who had experienced so much in her short life, the one who struggled like Rosalie did with the transformation. 

It wasn't even the fact that they couldn't have children, that they were frozen and stayed the same age that they were when they last took in oxygen - it was more of the fact that she could never be reunited with Fred Weasley, never be able to share the afterlife that some in the world she had been in believed in and she had strong opinions about many things especially how she could never go back to her world, the world she used to belong in. 

Emmett didn't have to tell him anything as he knew that Carlisle could figure it all out on his own but he knew he had to put his mind at ease; telling him that it was Hermione who struggled with the decision to move it a day ahead or even a few days ahead as they had been uncertain on their decision with them making a quick decision about the flight from Seattle to Fairbanks. 

It would be a three hour and forty two minute flight to Fairbanks with it being a short overnight flight because of how late they had booked the flight for and they were prepared for it but right now all that mattered was saying goodbye to the family, getting all the stuff that they weren't taking with them in Hermione's old room which still had some of her books in it so others could read them like Rosalie who was interested in some of the books. 

"When will you be leaving Alaska?" 

"In a few days, maybe. I don't know but don't worry, we're well prepared." Emmett assured him as the question was a little unexpected as it took a few seconds for him to register what Carlisle had asked him and it was only then that he wondered where the others were - he wondered if Esme was tending to her garden or if she was out hunting or out somewhere with Rosalie as he couldn't hear them in the house. 

The conversation turned to another subject and it wasn't long before he felt it was time for him to go and get everything out of the jeep when Alice called up, telling him that her and Jasper had done the job for him so they could spend time with him; no matter how little it was which made him wonder where Edward was as despite how annoying or frustrating his brother could be - he knew that it would be hard if he didn't see them. 

"He's in Port Angeles," Jasper told him as he came down the stairs with Carlisle having stayed in his study, after the long talk that they had with him and Emmett did wonder how his brother knew what he was thinking. 

"Why is he..." 

Alice and Jasper shared a look between them before Emmett realised there would be one reason why his brother was in Port Angeles and that would be to look after or even see if she was alright...Isabella Swan was a problem in the eyes of Hermione and Emmett. The two didn't know the girl, they didn't see her every day when they attended school, for they had graduated two years ago and he breathed deeply when he realised what he was thinking about. 

"Alice said you were leaving today," Esme's voice was clear as she had come down the stairs and he almost jumped at the sound of her voice; not because she had scared him but because she was there all of a sudden and he grimaced more internally than out with him taking another deep breath as he turned to stare at her with him hating to see the pained expression on her face. 

He merely nodded. 

It would be a while until the family would be truly reunited again and Esme suspected that it would be a long time until they saw Hermione and Emmett again, maybe even a good few years as the decision was final - it was absolute. She did not know what was to come, not even Alice would know until it happened but for now they had to make the most of the time with at least one of them as Hermione was not to return to the house. 

Leaving was harder, harder than Emmett thought it would be as he had to run all the way from the house to a certain point before walking towards the diner where Hermione was waiting; having ordered two coffees to take away and they would be seen by those who hadn't seen the twins in a while with it being known to the two of them that the townsfolk needed to see them. 

At least once, before they left as the rumours were true about the McCarty's. They would be leaving the state of Washington to go to Fairbanks, Alaska then they would be leaving the country to go to England; though those who were gossiping about them didn't know they were going to Alaska, they just knew they were leaving Seattle and the state for some reason. 

Leaving their adoptive family behind... 

* * *

 

**Port Angeles, Washington. – March 2014.**

* * *

 

Bella had been saved by Edward in Port Angeles and after missing the meal with Angela and Jessica; it was him who took her inside the restaurant as her two friends were leaving and it was him who requested for somewhere more private so they ended up going around a partition to a small ring of booths, all empty except for theirs. Their server arrived, not long after they sat down and they ordered two drinks before she left with his eyes on Bella most of the time; as she wasn’t nervous or in shock like he thought she would be which made her so very peculiar.

It seemed so long ago that they had been sitting across from each other at a table in the cafeteria, talking and now they were in Port Angeles; at a table in a restaurant. All of it was strange for her, and she did wonder silently if his elder siblings – as in Hermione and Emmett had left yet. He was the one who confirmed that the rumours were true; as those in school had started to gossip about the news that was spreading after one of the McCarty twins had visited their adoptive father, Carlisle at the Hospital.

The waitress soon appeared with their drinks and a basket of breadsticks with Bella having mushroom ravioli while Edward chose not to get anything with the waitress leaving, dissatisfied and when she drank her soda; it wasn’t long before he pushed his glass towards her. It was a conversation that was filled with questions rather than answers but once she was satisfied with the meal and had another drink of the soda; it wasn’t long before they left with him having paid it in full and told the waitress to keep the change.

They left to get in the car and once they were in, he started the engine and turned the heater on high with him pulling out through the traffic, being careful as he was heading toward the freeway – with him telling her it was her turn.

He knew that he was risking it all for a girl that he didn’t truly know, not yet despite their casual conversations and her questions; he knew if Emmett and Hermione were at home – they would demand answers like Jasper and Rosalie but they weren’t.  Emmett and Hermione had packed everything up, having given their work plenty of notice before leaving as though they had planned it for a while and it seemed strange that they were not going to be able to change their minds about the move.

“Can I ask just one more?” Bella asked as Edward accelerated down the quiet street and she was grateful that he was paying attention to the road ahead and not to her – not looking at her face.

“One.”

“You said you knew that I hadn’t gone into the bookstore and that I had gone south, I was just…wondering how you knew that.”

Edward told her how he searched for her by following her scent and he swore he heard her heart skip a beat but he chose to ignore it; chose to look ahead – at the road instead of being dangerous as he knew he didn’t need to look at the road yet he had a human passenger beside him and he was supposed to be blending in.

Not showing off.

“You didn’t answer one of my first questions…” Bella stalled after that, looking apprehensive as he looked at her with disapproval and asked which one did he not answer with her then not being able to stop herself.

She asked how his ability worked, if he could read anybody’s mind anywhere, how he did it and if the rest of his family shared the ability with her being wary for an answer as she remembered the discussion with Jacob in La Push, on the beach.

“It’s just me and I can’t hear anyone, anywhere. The more familiar someone’s  _voice_ is, the farther away I can hear them. It’s a little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once until I focus on one voice and then what they’re thinking is clear…” He told her how most of the time he tuned it all out as it could be distracting for him and it was easier for him to seem normal when he's not accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words. 

She was curious about why he couldn't hear her thoughts and he told her that he had no idea with him telling her that it might be her mind doesn't work the same way as the rest of theirs did and Bella muttered something under her breath as she didn't want to be seen as a freak before he told her that she shouldn't worry about it and then the conversation changed to how fast he was now driving. 

"...Enough commentary on my driving, I'm still waiting for your latest theory," said Edward who glanced at her and breathed deeply as he wondered if she was close to discovering what he was, what his family were though he knew that it was breaking all the rules - the laws that the Volturi still upheld and he took a deep breath as his gaze was now back on the road. 

It wasn't long before she told him that it started at the beach on Saturday, after running into an old family friend - Jacob Black and told him that his dad and Charlie had been friends since she was a baby with him being confused until Bella told him that Jacob's dad was one of the Quileute elders and how the two went for a walk with Jacob having told her some old legends. 

"Go on," he said. 

"About vampires," Bella whispered and she couldn't look at his face yet she saw how his knuckles tightened on the wheel with him demanding to know if she had immediately thought about him; she felt guilty in that instance but she had to carry on; had to tell him that Jacob told her about his family then said it was a silly superstition at least it was in the eyes of Jacob Black. 

"I forced him to tell me." 

"Why?" 

"Lauren said something about you, she was trying to provoke me. And an older boy from the tribe said your family didn't come to the reservation, only it sounded like he meant something different so I got Jacob alone and I tricked it out of him." Bella admitted, moving her head to look out of the window when she heard Edward laugh and ask her how she tricked him. 

So she told him and then they continued their conversation, how she did some research on the Internet and when she told him that it didn't matter to her what he was, what his family was and Edward's facial expression changed as he didn't expect the conversation to turn to the truth; he was cautious with his response and then he became silent, staring straight ahead. 

"You're angry, I shouldn't have..." 

"No," he said but his tone was as hard as his expression was. "I'd rather know what you're thinking even if what you're thinking is insane," 

They continued to talk and he answered questions as truthfully as he could without revealing too much as he told her the myths such as burned by the sun, sleeping in coffins and how he couldn't sleep at all which seemed incredibly unnerving for Bella as she couldn't imagine not being able to sleep, not being able to switch herself off and enjoy the dreams that she sometimes remembered. 

"You haven't asked me the most important question yet." His voice was hard now and when he looked at her again, his eyes were cold before he told her that she didn't seem concerned by his diet, what he sustained off and she told him how Jacob said that they didn't hunt people, how Edward's family weren't supposed to be dangerous because they only hunted animals. 

"He said we weren't dangerous?" 

"Not exactly, he said you weren't supposed to be dangerous..." 

It wasn't long before the conversation seemed to end and she watched the headlights twist with the curves of the road, they moved too fast and she was trying to calm her mind as it was hard to broach another subject until she asked to know more with Edward knowing he had to be cautious on what he would tell her, if he chose to tell her anything else. 

Rosalie and Jasper would be outraged by this new development. 

The talking began after several minutes seeming to past and Edward told her more about why he hunted animals instead of people, how he didn't want to be a monster and how it didn't completely satiate the hunger or rather the thirst but it keeps them strong enough to resist most of the time. It was seemingly easy to talk about it but in the back of his mind; he knew that it was harder, he wondered silently why she was so curious and not afraid of him. 

"Were you hunting this weekend with Jasper?" 

"Yes," He paused for a second, as if deciding whether or not to say something. "I didn't want to leave but it was necessary, it's a bit easier to be around you when I'm not thirsty." 

"Why didn't you want to leave?" 

"It makes me...anxious...to be away from you." His eyes were indescribable. "I wasn't joking when I asked you to try not to fall in the ocean or get run over last Thursday. I was distracted all weekend, worrying about you and after what happened tonight, I'm surprised you made it through a whole weekend unscathed." He shook his head and remembered something about the almost-healed scrapes on Bella's hands with him glancing at her hands, not saying a word. 

Bella sighed. 

"I fell." 

"...It was a long three days, I really got on Jasper's nerves." 

"Three days?" 

"We got back on Sunday." 

He promised her not long after she asked why they hadn't been in school that he would show her sometime about why he couldn't go out in the sunlight and it didn't seem long before they were slowing down, passing into the boundaries of Forks as Edward had sped up a little, though he was cautious - he knew that he could get away with it until a certain point. 

It wasn't long until they were in front of Charlie's house, the lights were on and the truck was in its place with him stopping the car as she wanted to know if he would be there tomorrow - not somewhere else. Anywhere but near her as it had been a revelation for Bella; she knew that Edward was a vampire, his family were vampires and then before she got out; she wanted to know something about his two siblings, the siblings she had not seen or met.

"...Have Emmett and Hermione left Seattle?" She felt a lump build up in her throat as she knew that it wasn't a question that Edward would be willing to answer; as it seemed difficult for him to tell her that the rumours were true and she breathed deeply, as she warily glanced back at him as he stiffened up; his eyes were cold and she wondered if she had made a mistake by asking him. 

Edward sighed. "Not yet." 

"But they're..." 

"Yes," he didn't mean to interrupt her but he didn't want to think about the two siblings who were leaving, no matter how selfish that was - he knew that he couldn't live up to the fact that any day now, Hermione and Emmett were leaving to visit their cousins in Alaska and then they would be off...all the way across the world without a second glance towards those they were leaving behind... 

"Will you promise me something?" He asked her, gently as she had pulled his jacket off and handed it over to him as she didn't want to explain anything to Charlie as to why she was wearing someone else's jacket. 

"Yes." 

"Don't go into the woods alone."

Bella stared at him in blank confusion, asking him and then he frowned, looking past her out the window and told her that he wasn't the most dangerous thing out there before she left his car and got to the front door - she turned to watch the silver car that she had been in only minutes earlier disappeared around the corner then it was time for her to unlock the door, stepping inside. 

Charlie called from the living. "Bella?" 

"Yeah, Dad. It's me..." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was slightly planned out a bit different as in what was happening occurred before other things but going through it, it made sense for Edward not to be there when Emmett was as it was night-time when he visited with the belongings they weren't taking with them to Cambridge.


	7. Mind Over Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward takes Bella to his meadow with her not only discovering more about himself, but she finally learns more about the Cullens as a family, as who they are as individuals without too much being given to her as he always believes in respecting others privacy. He also asks her an important question...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would be interesting to jump back and forth through some memories from time to time which shows characters that won't necessarily be in this story a lot. I know it's a slower process, but I have many things planned for this story that I didn't the last time I was writing it. Thank you for all your support and please, review. I am sorry, it took me so long too to update. – Devil.

* * *

 

" _I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in the stars." – T.E. Lawrence._

* * *

 

**Forks, Washington. – March 2014.**

* * *

 

 

Bella was sitting with Edward in the meadow, having been given a taste of what Emmett would call his  _drama queen_ antics as he proved to her how dangerous and how fast he could be despite being able to sparkle in the sun.

"So, where were we before I behaved so rudely?" he asked her politely and she was reminded how he was from an earlier century, having been born in 1901 and she frowned a little when she couldn't remember exactly what point they were at.

"I don't know."

It was a conversation that turned to why she was afraid, besides the obvious reasons and when that finished; they sat silently, looking in each other's eyes and then he broke the silence – telling her that his comparison was probably not the best suited when it came to the craving for her blood.

"So, what you're saying is, that I'm your brand of heroin?" Bella was trying to lighten the mood and he smiled swiftly, as though he appreciated her effort before she asked him if it happened often with him frowning.

"I spoke to Jasper about it, but he wasn't sure if he'd ever come across someone was as appealing as you are to me. Emmett, however…he had two, one stronger than the other and Hermione, she doesn't – she's the most recent to join our family and there's been times when there's been a struggle…"

Edward took a deep breath, as it pained him to speak to her about his two siblings, those who wouldn't be coming home for a while as their sudden leave was shocking in his eyes and he wished in a way that he had been there to say goodbye to Emmett, at least.

"And for you?"

"Never."

"What did Emmett do?" Bella knew that it was to break the silence and she was trying to learn as much about the family as possible, especially about the two who she doubted that she would be able to meet as tensions were high.

It was the wrong question to ask as his face grew dark, his hands clenched into fists and he looked away with her waiting for him to answer, waiting to see if he would tell her more but when he didn't, it seemed to disappoint her.

"I guess, I know."

"Even the strongest of us fall off the wagon, don't we?" he muttered, humourlessly as his eyes glanced towards hers and he didn't blink, he simply stared before she asked him if he was waiting for her permission first.

"No…of course not. I won't…" He left the sentence hanging as his eyes burned into hers, his gaze was intense. "It's different for us. Emmett…it was a long time ago, and he wasn't as practiced, as careful as he is now,"

He fell silent and watched her intently as she thought it all through, wondering what would have happened if they had met in a dark alley or somewhere else before asking him out-loud how it could have gone.

"…I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn't been denying my thirst for the last, well…too many years. I wouldn't have been able to stop myself," He paused, scowling at the trees.

"…I couldn't understand why. How you could hate me so quickly…"

"…In that one hour, I thought of a hundred different ways to lure you from the room with me, to get you alone and I fought them each back, thinking of my family – what I could do to them. I had to run out, to get away before I could say something that would make you follow."

She tried to absorb every piece of information that was given to her voluntarily by Edward and she was stunned at his words with his golden eyes scorching from under his lashes with him promising her that she would have come.

"Without a doubt."

Edward explained how he tried to get his schedule rearranged when Bella turned up and how there had only been one other human standing in the way – Mrs Cope and she shivered, not intentionally but she was thinking back to that day.

"I don't know how I resisted but I did. I left the others near home, too ashamed to tell them how weak I was and then I went straight to Carlisle who was at the hospital, to tell him I was leaving," he murmured as Bella stared at him in surprise.

He explained how he hated knowing he'd made Esme upset and how Emmett threatened to drag him all the way back to Forks by his ear if he had to, though he never got the chance to respond to the multitude of messages from his brother and sister.

Then he told her how he wanted her to forget his behaviour and when he saw her almost crushed to death in front of his eyes and how he didn't think when he saved her, only telling her that he did think was 'Not her,'.

His eyes closed, and Bella listened, eagerly rather than rationally and common sense told her that she should have been terrified, yet here she was relieved to understand. Filled with compassion because of his suffering.

"In the hospital?" she asked him, gently to make him stare at her again and he did with him telling her how appalled he was – how he couldn't believe he had put them all in danger with her remembering briefly meeting Rosalie who had been led away by Carlisle, so they could talk.

"Rosalie refused to speak to me, the entire time I drove back to the house after we left the hospital and I never expected…to see Hermione and Emmett there…" He told her that Jasper, out of all his siblings called them and they knew some of what happened.

"What happened?" Bella was curious to know what occurred and listened intently when he started to explain that it was a family meeting that took place because of what happened, what he did to save her life in a crowded parking lot.

He explained how he argued with Rosalie and Jasper when they suggested that it was time, that it would benefit them if she was silenced which shocked her, but she still wanted to learn more – she wanted to know what changed.

"Rosalie was persuaded, more by Carlisle than anyone else and Jasper relented after listening to Alice as Esme only wished to do what-ever I had to do for me to stay. But I don't think even Alice could have seen what was to happen next…"

Bella was confused.

"You have to understand something, Bella first. Hermione, she's…not only the newest but she's stubborn,  _very_  stubborn and her ideology matches Jasper's in the sense that she agrees with him on how the Volturi are necessary in our world."

It took some brief explanation for her not to be confused on who the Volturi were, though she suspected that he wasn't telling her everything regarding the Volturi as the explanation was more about what happened – as she knew from his words that Emmett and Hermione were not persuaded like Rosalie and Jasper were.

"I thought Emmett would immediately side with Rosalie, but things…they haven't been the same since he and Hermione left for Seattle. He would always defend our sister first unless it involved Rosalie, as that's a different scenario altogether…"

He grimaced when he started to explain what happened, how it was just an argument at first, but it would be the worst fight they'd ever had which made her eyes widen at thinking about how uneven it was – two against one.

"Emmett told me if I touched her, he'd rip my arms off and he meant it which made Esme quite shocked, I believe. It became a heated argument and then…we ended up fighting, after I…heard something rather  _unpleasant_ in Hermione's mind…"

Bella was entranced as she listened to every word he said and wondered what the two siblings looked like, the ones she had never met as she couldn't quite get an image perfect in her mind, but she imagined how the fight went – especially if it was indoors.

"What happened after…"

"They left…Rosalie did try and persuade Emmett but all she could do was watch them drive away in his jeep and…it was difficult. They spent six weeks, barely calling us and they never visited, not once," he told her, trying to keep the strong emotions at bay.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. My sister, she's…the stubbornest person you'll ever meet and once a decision is made…" He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly and then sighed as he continued to tell her how the day they found out what was going to happen with his two siblings came to pass.

"I should have known they were planning something, but they kept it to themselves and I'm not entirely sure how long they'd been thinking about it. Our reaction to the news…was probably not the best but…"

"It showed that you cared." Bella interrupted him from his thoughts as he was lost again, lost in the time that seemed so long ago now and he sighed, merely nodding in response with her wanting to ask questions.

"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?" The question seemed to amuse him, and he stared at her, they were still sat peacefully in the meadow and he wondered how it all came to pass – how he had found such happiness in a stressful time.

He hesitated, wondering for a moment if the truth would upset her but there had been enough shared already and he knew there would be questions, though he'd be careful on how much he shared about his family – as hopefully, one day they would tell her their stories.

"I was born in Chicago in 1901 and I was seventeen when Carlisle found me in a hospital in the summer of 1918 – dying of the Spanish influenza," Bella inhaled sharply at his words and he hesitated briefly, like he didn't want to continue in case the words hurt her.

"I don't remember it well, it was a very long time ago, but I do remember how it felt when Carlisle saved me, it's not an easy thing…not something you could forget." Edward carefully explained about how his parents had died from the disease, how he was an only child and alone with the words carrying him back to how it was then.

A whole life-time before Bella was born and he went on to explain briefly on how it was like to change someone, how it wasn't easy as one would think but never truly went into detail about the whole process of the transformation.

"I was the first in Carlisle's family, though he found Esme soon after. She… _fell_ from a cliff and they brought her straight to the hospital morgue, though, somehow…maybe even a miracle, perhaps – her heart was still beating."

"So, you must be dying, then to become…"

"No, that's just Carlisle. He would never do that to someone who had another choice. It is easier, he says though, if the blood is weak." Perhaps that was more than Edward needed to tell her, but he knew she wanted to know more.

"Emmett and Rosalie?"

"Carlisle brought Rosalie into our family next. I didn't realise until much later that he was hoping she would be to me what Esme was to him – he was careful with his thoughts around me. But she was never more than a sister."

"It was only two years later that she found Emmett. We were in Appalachia at the time, and she was hunting – and found a bear about to finish him off. She carried him back to Carlisle, more than a hundred miles, afraid she wouldn't be able to do it herself…"

He could only begin to guess how difficult it had been for her, the entire journey back carrying a bleeding and dying Emmett in her arms with him gazing at Bella, as he had already gained a new respect for Rosalie as he couldn't imagine carrying Bella that far without succumbing to his thirst.

"But she made it," Bella encouraged, as he raised their hands, still folded together to brush her cheek with the back of his hand and he did not grimace – though he wanted to, and he merely nodded with him frowning a little afterwards.

"She saw something in his face that made her strong enough and they've been together ever since. They have lived separately from us, as a married couple but the younger we pretend to be, the longer we can stay in any given place…"

He knew deep down that the struggles that Rosalie and Emmett suffered during the last few years, especially since he moved away with Hermione after they graduated from Forks High and went to Seattle, and now across the Atlantic.

"Jasper and Alice?"

"They are two very rare creatures, they developed a conscience, as we refer to it with no outside guidance. Jasper belonged to another…family, a  _very_ different kind of family, and he started to wander on his own. Alice found him."

Bella was fascinated when she found out that Alice had her own gift, a talent like Edward's and even more when she found out that Alice knew other things, things that might happen or are coming but her visions were subjective.

His jaw clenched when he told her that things changed, and his eyes darted to her face then away quickly and breathed deeply. It took him a minute or two to focus on her question, as Bella was curious to know what she saw.

"She saw Jasper and knew he was looking for her before he knew it himself. She saw Carlisle and our family, and they came together to find us. She's more sensitive to non-humans as she always sees, for example, when another group of our kind is coming near."

Bella noticed how tense he seemed to get and then she wondered if he would tell her anything about Hermione, as she knew something about Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper despite it not being at all that much.

"What about Hermione?" She asked him, as she did want to know if the others had any talents like he and Alice did, but it was only fair to know more about his sister who he told her was stubborn and the newest addition to the family.

"…You've got to understand something first, Bella. Hermione…she…it was different for her than for the rest of us when she was human," he knew to broach the subject of where Hermione came from, the world she lived in was going to be difficult, but he had to give Bella something – to make her understand.

"As in the year she was born…"

"No, well…yes and no. Hermione has only been with the family for fourteen years, well it'll be fourteen this year and to others, it might not seem a lot but to her – it's been a life time because she grew up in a different world than we did."

The entire concept of another world was baffling to Bella, but she listened, as intrigued as ever with her being curious to know more, to learn more about each family member yet he seemed intent on telling her more about Hermione without being able to give too much away.

"I upset her, once…" Edward was speaking clearly, despite his tone seeming to hint that he was now lost in a memory as he remembered the day very well, as though it was only the day before and he remembered how his sister's bright red eyes sparked with fury.

Bella was quiet, waiting for him to finish or to even look at her – to wait for a question to be asked and she did wonder how Carlisle had come across her, how he had found Hermione and then turned her into a vampire.

"We moved to Scotland, at Alice's insistence – not truly knowing why we would leave the States to live in the Highlands, of all places…" murmured Edward, knowing that the country was beautiful, and the land was exquisite, but he remembered the confusion over the move.

Confusion which seemed to clear when Carlisle discovered Hermione and ran all the way home with her in his arms, going through the suffering that the transformation brought a human and Bella watched his facial expression change which made her reach forward, touching his face with her fingers.

It snapped him out of his thoughts and he pressed his lips together into a thin line before he tried to smile at her, tried to reassure her that everything was fine, but his expression seemed to betray it as he was exposed, vulnerable in the presence of Isabella Swan.

"Carlisle brought her back to the house and…she – it wasn't pretty the state she was in and I was angry….at those who would cause such harm to her," he quickly explained after seeing the change in expression on Bella's face – she had been shocked when he said he was angry.

"She was in pain, more pain than…any of us except maybe Esme and… _maybe_  Rosalie. You see, Hermione lost someone who was important to her, she loved him – she still loves him, actually and…he was taken from her."

Bella watched him, staring into his eyes before she couldn't help but to look away as she knew there was pain in his gaze – pain from the memory of what his sister lost and she hoped that one day she would understand from her point of view; if she ever met her that was.

"Hermione wouldn't want me to tell you this, but out of everyone even Rose. She's the one who…might be more hostile towards you and I want you to…I don't want you to hate her," Edward was trying his hardest to give Bella something to remember – to remember his sister's kindness but also her torment.

It would become apparent to him in the future that if Bella did get changed, then she would have to learn to deal with those who she could never see again – her friends, her family, everyone she cherished and got to know in Forks.

His siblings may have descendants, but he and Hermione shared something in common, they were only children and it wasn't fair to think of Alice's family, as none of them knew where she had come from or how the person who changed her could have walked away from her.

"Tell me what?" Bella realised that he hadn't gotten quite to the point on what he was trying to make and encouraged him to do so with her tone being gentle as she wasn't too outspoken, not then – not when she was learning so much.

"I told you Hermione came from a different world, and I didn't mean the year or the fact that she was born in England, she was… _different_  when she was a child and at the age of eleven, she went to a boarding school for those who were like her…"

"Like her?"

"It's complicated and not my story to tell but…" Edward tried his best to explain in small detail about his sister, about how she grew up with two best-friends and how she met the love of her life without ever mentioning names.

"They were close, very close and she…she reunited with him on the day he died which was also the day  _she_ …died too except her heart hadn't stopped beating, not fully…" It was like there was a lump in his throat, getting bigger as he explained but he had to try for Bella to understand more.

He couldn't explain the Wizarding World to her, not completely but he made sure that Bella was aware that there were other beings out there, other worlds that were out there too that were like her normal  _human_ one.

"She wanted to die, even while being in the transformation stage, she pleaded…in her thoughts, even out-loud. If she couldn't scream, how could she tell us to kill her?" He explained how it was a darkness that filled the days of her transformation.

"Alice already thought of her as a sister, Rosalie had her doubts that she would stay, and Emmett was more than happy to get another sister, to get to become close to her. Jasper was happy, because Alice was," he told her, gently.

"What about you?"

"…I was torn, at first. I saw what none of my family could see or hear, which were her thoughts and yes, there were dark moments. There was a time when I sometimes wished that Carlisle never found her, but what was worse – going through the vampire transformation surrounded by people or dying, in the cold, alone?"

It was a rhetorical question and he knew that it was dark to think such a thing, but he wanted to end his sister's suffering and he had thought about it, if it would have been better to have let her die and be found, to be buried next to Fred or somewhere close.

"We came here, about  _three_  years ago." The sentence surprised Bella, but it was a relief to get away from the pain, the suffering and the misery that his sister Hermione – who she was so certain on never being able to meet her because of the circumstances – endured.

It was a shock to hear the word three, as she automatically assumed that only two years had passed since Emmett and Hermione graduated Forks High School and then went on to attend the University of Seattle and to find a home, there in Seattle.

"Emmett and Hermione made a decision to go to college, earlier than we usually try to go, though there are times where we go to college instead of high school, or we get jobs that would fit for our age range without pushing ourselves to the limit…"

"Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and Hermione all look older than they are, in more ways than one and it's hard if Emmett and Hermione are portraying themselves as twins or even siblings to separate them…as like I've said before, they are close."

"Why did they want to…"

"It was a fresh start, coming to this town instead of being in a suburban part of a city, or away from others, in the wildness of Alaska. Hermione was thinking about trying college and Emmett wanted to go with her."

"But why?"

"Something different, something they could do on their own without Carlisle and Esme being there, we were thinking of switching it up – switching our roles to a more appropriate ideal where Rosalie and Jasper would be the younger siblings of Carlisle and so on…"

"Why didn't you?"

"We discussed about it and maybe now, maybe if we had done that and Jasper and Rosalie went off to college with Hermione and Emmett, then they would have…stayed and they wouldn't be thinking of going half way around the world for a new start."

"Did I…do something that made them…"

"No, absolutely not. You did nothing wrong, Bella." Edward was adamant with his words and the conversation turned to the subject that he dreaded talking about to any of his family, let alone Bella who was sat in his –  _their_ meadow.

"Then why?"

He sighed at the question, but he never truly got around to answering it as the subject matter changed and he was at ease with her, spending time with her and he knew some of it would have been seen by Alice who was always checking the future now – especially when it concerned their siblings.

It wasn't long before the two were back in her truck again and Bella knew he could drive well, even when he kept to the speed limit as it seemed to be effortless for him, but he was polite enough to keep his attention on the road.

Sometimes, he gazed into the setting sun, sometimes he glanced at her, at her face, at her hair blowing out the open window or even their hands twined together; as he drove one-handed and then he turned the radio station onto an old station.

Singing along with a song she'd never heard but he knew every line and she was baffled by it, at first as she tried to recognise which decade it was from until she realised it was indeed fifties music and she asked him about it.

"Music in the fifties was good. Better than the sixties and the seventies," he shuddered at the mere thought of revisiting those times and then told her how he thought that the eighties more bearable than the previous two decades.

"Do they like different music too?"

"Emmett got Hermione to dance to a song that was from the 1930s, I think. It's…always hard to get my sister on the dance-floor, but they had fun, it was when Rosalie married Emmett once again..."

"So, they do enjoy listening to music from another era?" Bella murmured, though it was a question, her eyes gazing at his face as he kept concentrating on the road, there was that flicker again in his expression, the pain on his face.

"We all do, even Hermione…" He had his moments when he wondered what it would have been like if Hermione had been part of the family for even longer, if she had been there for a few decades rather than a mere fourteen years.

"Wait, did you say that Rosalie married Emmett again?"

He chuckled at her question, as the realisation hit Bella that he said that it had been when Rosalie married Emmett again which made her wonder how many times the couple had married and how much strain it caused them for him to go across the other side of the world without her.

"Yes. They've been married a few times, sometimes it's a lavish ceremony and everything in between, other times it's simple and quiet and it's just them. It was Alice who gave them the idea and Esme helped my sister plan the entire occasion,"

"Didn't Hermione help in the planning?" She asked, before he clenched her hand in a gentle way, but it was still a little tighter than normal and then he let go, putting his hand back on the steering wheel and concentrated on the road but his eyes did flicker down to her.

"No, it didn't matter how many times Alice or Esme or even Rosalie asked her, she didn't want to…but she did help in the end, with getting it all set up and she had this dress that was elegant and entirely her, as Rosalie got someone to make it especially for Hermione,"

"That was kind of her."

"We're kind when we want to be, yes there has been odd occasions where not everything works in our favour and our tempers get the better of us, but we are…we're more of a family now, more complete than what we were."

It wasn't long until they were parked outside the front of Bella's house, it was very quiet and dark, there was no moon and the porch light off, so she knew that her father wasn't home yet, and Edward would have to run home or get picked up by Alice.

"Did Alice come from another family, like Jasper did?" Bella asked him, curiously, not knowing if it was going to end when she went into the house, if she would see him later that evening or if he would leave her alone to process everything.

"No, and that is a mystery. Alice doesn't remember her human life at all, she doesn't know who created her either. She woke alone – whoever made her walked away and none of us understand why or how, they could."

Edward took a deep breath, telling her that if his sister hadn't had that other sense, if she hadn't seen Jasper and Carlisle or known that she would have someday become part of the family, then she would have fed off humans and most likely been a nomad.

There was so much to think through, so much that Bella still wanted to ask but to her embarrassment, her stomach growled as she'd been so intrigued, so enthralled by everything, she hadn't even noticed that she was hungry.

"I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from dinner."

"I'm fine, really," she murmured with her telling him that she wanted to stay with him, knowing it was easier to say in the darkness with him asking her if he could come into the house and when she said yes, he got out of her truck silently.

The passenger door having opened and then she complimented him before she got out, locking her truck as he handed her the keys back and walked beside her in the night, so quietly that she occasionally glanced at him to see if he was still there.

It wasn't long before she was concentrating on getting her dinner, taking the lasagne that had been cooked the night before from the fridge, placing a square on a plate and heating it in the microwave before there was a smell of tomatoes and oregano filling the kitchen.

They spoke about how many times he would come over to the house, how he told her that she was interesting when she slept and how she talked in her sleep sometimes with him being careful, as he did tell her if she wanted him to stop – then he would.

It wasn't long before they heard tires on the driveway, saw the headlights flash through the front windows down the hall to them and she stiffened as Edward had been near her at the time, close enough to touch.

"Should your father know I'm here?" he asked, gently as his eyes flickered over to where he knew that Charlie would be coming through any minute now with the question seeming to make Bella stall a little, not entirely certain on what to say.

"Another time then…"

It wasn't long before her father entered, and she had been eating her meal that had been heated up enough with it burning her tongue as she got his dinner ready while scoffing hers down eagerly, filing two glasses with milk while his lasagne was heating.

She gulped hers down and poured another glass for herself, after placing his food on the table and he thanked her before she asked how his day was, the words being rushed as she was wanting to escape to her room.

"Good, the fish were biting. How about you? Did you get everything done that you wanted to get done?"

"Not really, it was too nice out to stay indoors," Bella murmured, as she finished her food as her father agreed then lifted her glass, downing half of her drink as she discovered that she was incredibly thirsty as well.

"In a hurry?"

"Yeah, I'm tired. I'm going to bed early," she murmured, not realising that her father had been glancing at her every so often since he came in and it wasn't long before she was scrubbing the dishes clean in the sink and placing them on the dish-rack to dry.

"It's Saturday," he murmured but she never responded and then he asked her rather suddenly, on if she had any plans at all that night with her telling him that she merely just wanted to get some sleep before he asked her about the boys in town.

"No, none of them have caught my eye yet," she murmured, awkwardly as she couldn't believe it got to that stage in the conversation before it was time for her to go upstairs and she purposely made her footsteps sound slow and tired as she walked up the stairs.

She shut the door loud enough for him to hear then carefully went on her tiptoes to the window, throwing it open and leaned out into the night, her eyes scanning the darkness, the shadows of the trees in her sight as she had switched a light on.

"Edward?" she whispered into the night, searching for him in the dark but she couldn't see any sign of him before the quiet, laughing response came from behind her and she whirled around, as he was laying across her bed, his hands behind his head and his feet dangling off the edge.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry," he pressed his lips together, hiding his amusement and then he suggested for her to sit next to him before it not taking long until she had to take a few minutes to get ready for bed which made her hop back up from her bed, grabbing her pyjamas and her bag of toiletries.

She left the light on, slipping out and closing the door with her hearing the sound from the television up the stairs and then made sure to shut the bathroom door loudly, so her father wouldn't come up to check on her.

Bella wanted to hurry, brushing her teeth twice quite fiercely, trying to be thorough and speedy, removing all traces of lasagna but the hot water of the shower couldn't be rushed, unknotting the muscles in her back.

It didn't take long before she was out of the shower, drying herself carefully and then she put on her pyjamas and rubbed the towel through her hair several times, brushing it afterwards and threw the towel into the laundry basket.

Making certain Charlie saw her one more time before she went back up the stairs to her room, she breathed deeply as she entered and closed the door behind her with Edward seeming to not have moved an inch.

"What was that about?"

"Charlie might think I'm going to sneak out later," she told him, hastily before joining him as she sat on her bed and he moved a little, only to the side so she could prop herself up on two of her pillows as she had added another two to her double bed.

"Are you?" he teased her by asking before she rolled her eyes at him, as they casually started to speak with her being curious to how he was so at ease being with her, being alone with her and being in perfect control.

It was the talking that made her feel completely peaceful, with him being in her room, speaking to her and her speaking to him that made everything seem perfect as they spoke about how he was in control and how if it got too much, he was certain he'd be able to leave.

"The emotion of jealousy, I've read about it a hundred thousand times, seen actors portray it in a thousand different plays and movies. I believed I understood that one pretty clearly, but it shocked me…" he grimaced. "Do you remember the day that Mike asked you to the dance?"

She nodded, though she remembered the day for a different reason. "The day you started talking to me again,"

"I was surprised by the flare of resentment, fury that I felt – I didn't recognise what it was at first and by hell, did Jasper make fun when he realised what I was feeling. I was aggravated that I couldn't know what you were thinking, why you refused him. Was it simply for your friend's sake or was there someone else?"

He rambled on, telling her how he tried acting like he didn't care and then how he waited to hear what she would say to them, to watch your expressions and how he couldn't deny the relief he had felt, watching the annoyance on her face.

"That was the first night I came here. I waited all night, while watching you sleep, being plagued between what I knew was  _right_ and what I wanted. I knew if I continued to ignore you or if I left for a few years until you were gone, that someday you'd say yes to Mike or to someone else."

Describing how jealous he had felt over the other boys made Bella feel incredulous at first' but she did understand, she understood because she felt jealous sometimes when she saw other girls looking at him, yet they would never approach him.

"…I should have known you were listening."

"Of course." He retorted, after telling her that he thought jealousy was a strange thing, powerful yet it being strange and irrational then he felt jealous once more when Charlie asked her about Mike Newton and about other boys in town.

"That made you feel jealous, though, really?"

"I'm new at this, you are resurrecting the human in me, and everything feels stronger now than it did before because it's so fresh."

"But honestly," Bella teased him. "for that to bother you, after I have to hear that Rosalie – the incarnation of pure beauty –  _Rosalie_  was meant for you. Emmett or no Emmett, how can I even compete with that?"

"There's no competition."

It was hard for him to imagine being with Rosalie, even if there was Emmett in the family, it would be incredibly hard to imagine it, let alone live it because of their differences and their bond as siblings despite it being a little fragile at times – they were siblings, nonetheless.

"…Rosalie is beautiful in her own way but even if she wasn't like a sister to me, even if Emmett didn't belong with her, she could never have one tenth, one…hundredth of the attraction you hold for me," he was being serious.

"It hardly seems fair," she whispered, now her head was resting on his shoulder, looking up at him as he breathed in and out but didn't truly need to with her having listened to his words, listened to how long he'd walked among his kind and hers – thinking he was complete in himself. "I haven't had to wait at all. Why should I get off so easily?"

"You're right," he agreed with amusement etched upon his face. "I should make it harder for you, definitely,"

It wasn't long before he became alert, suddenly releasing her hands and disappeared, the light having already been switched out at that point by him using his speed so then Charlie would assume she was asleep, but her father was going to check on her.

A long minute passed, she listened, not certain if she heard the door closed as she had rolled under her quilt, balling up on her side which was the usual way she slept before she had heard Charlie open the door, checking to make sure she was still there.

Edward's arm was around her, under the covers, his lips at her ear as she listened to his words, him calling her a terrible actress and how that career path might be out for her with her muttering something under her breath.

"Should I sing you to sleep?" he asked her, pausing as he had started to hum a melody which Bella never recognised with it sounding like a lullaby.

"Right, like I could sleep with you here," she murmured, and he reminded her that she did, but it was her retort which made him hesitate as it was the truth – she hadn't known that he was there, not even once as he wouldn't make it plainly obvious he was watching her.

It wasn't long before he explained how they did it, how they resisted what they were by drinking animal blood because she was so curious about it and there were others of their kind who wondered at how they lived.

"Is that all you were curious about?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Not quite."

"What else do you want to know?"

"Why can you read minds – why only you? Alice, seeing the future…why does that happen?" she asked him, curiously.

He shrugged in the darkness. "We don't really know. Carlisle has a theory…he believes that we all bring something of our strongest human traits with us into the next life, where they are intensified – like our minds and our senses…"

"He thinks that I must have already been very sensitive to the thoughts of those around me, and that Alice had some precognition, where-ever she was."

"What did he bring into the next life, and the others?"

"Carlisle brought his compassion. Esme brought her ability to love passionately. Emmett brought his strength, Rosalie her…tenacity," he hesitated. "Jasper is very interesting, he was quite charismatic in his first life, able to influence those around him to see things his way. Now he's able to manipulate the emotions of those around him,"

"And Hermione?"

"Hermione is unique, in many ways. She would never want me to tell you this, but I think you've got to know. You need…to know what she can do even if I can't tell you everything – she can sense and manipulate the dread or the fear of herself, of others and even animals…"

It was a difficult explanation for him as he could sense how Bella's heart rate spiked up, she was intrigued but at the same time there was that underlying fear as his sister's power was dangerous with her not only being able to channel the fear, she could manifest the emotional energy to a physical level.

She could cause others to fear even the most harmless of things to the point of becoming catatonic or even causing death inducement by causing enough fear to raise the blood pressure in a human being and then cause a heart-attack.

None of them, not even Carlisle understood why out of all the powers would she have developed such a power that was lethal if she chose to use it against someone in a very bad way, but it wasn't all his sister could do.

Hermione always tried to get her magic back, to get back to the level where she could use her wand but then her wand wasn't hers, not the one that Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett found in her belongings when they searched for them.

It was the wand they left behind, as they were advised by Edward and Alice over the matter, after their sister searched the future – searched her visions of Hermione during her transformation stage, to see what would happen.

"She can manipulate fear?" Bella breathed deeply, not knowing quite how to react to the news as in her own mind – Jasper's power was somewhat peaceful if he could calm a whole room down with it but then he too could manipulate emotions.

"Yes."

There was an uncomfortable, awkward silence that lasted several minutes; and Edward presumed that she had fallen asleep until she stirred, moving her body because she had become uncomfortable in the position she was in and he had let go of her by then – merely lying beside her.

"So, where did it all start? I mean, Carlisle changed you, and then someone must have changed him, and so on…"

"Where did you come from?  _Evolution? Creation?_  Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both of our kinds?"

"Let me get this straight – I'm the baby seal, right?" she murmured, becoming at ease again but she was wary as the subject matter changed so suddenly, so abrupt because it was clear that it was awkward when he explained Hermione's power to her.

"Right," he laughed before there was silence once again as Bella didn't seem to know what to do, they had spoken about a lot and it was only one day with her never wanting to make it harder for him than it already was.

"Are you ready to sleep?" he asked her, carefully with him looking down at her in the darkness of her room as she shifted once again. "Or do you have any more questions?"

"Only a million or two."

"We have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…" Edward reminded her, being at ease and he was happy to know that she was curious, that she wanted to learn more, and it wasn't just all about him and her.

He reassured her that he wouldn't abruptly leave her, he wouldn't vanish in the morning like he never existed and then she wondered if she could ask at least one more question before she would go to sleep, to slumber for hours while he remained awake.

It wasn't long until she was ready to go to sleep, with her being able to relax after the questions and the answers were either asked or given or even explained as she wondered if Emmett and Rosalie would get married again.

The subject was a cautious one, something that made him uncomfortable to answer as he wasn't too certain on when the two would get married again, as there had been some hope that it would be sometime soon but with the move – everything seemed to be up in the air.

"I have a question for you, and I don't mind if you don't want to…but I was wondering, what you would say to meeting my family?" Edward murmured, quietly before she was ready to settle for the night, to fall asleep next to him.

Bella gulped.

"Are you afraid now?"

"Yes," she admitted with him smirking in the darkness, teasing her a little but he was honest about protecting her, though he wasn't entirely certain on if he would be able to get Carlisle to persuade Emmett and Hermione to return home to meet her – if she agreed.

"I'm not afraid of them, I'm afraid…they won't like me. Won't they be, well surprised that you would bring someone…like me…home to meet them? Do they even know that I know about them?"

"Oh, they already know everything. Well, actually Hermione and Emmett are the only ones who don't know everything, but…it won't be straight away as I'll need Carlisle to persuade them to come home, and if they refuse then you could meet them sooner."

"How soon?"

"A week tomorrow, maybe? It depends. I mean, I don't even know if they've left Alaska yet, or if they're biding their time…" he murmured, as he knew that even Alice wasn't certain, and she had checked many times.

"I'll go." Bella murmured, as it would be nice to meet the family, to get to know them – no matter how long it took her to, she did see three of his siblings in school every-day or at least in the cafeteria but never interacted with them.

"Perfect. I'll arrange everything," he murmured in a low tone before telling her that she should get some rest, as it would be a busy day tomorrow and he knew that it would be different – to stay in the room with her, while she was aware of him.

To know that she agreed to meet the family made him feel all warm inside, as he was happy that she agreed but there was that added cautiousness – if Emmett managed to persuade Hermione to come then he would be wary of his sister for the entire day.

Jasper was one story, with his thirst but he would be able to keep himself under control for the most part as they would all go hunting beforehand as a precaution but for Hermione to be in the same room as the girl who caused all the problems –

It would be difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending it here, and I am sorry that it took me so damn long to write this chapter – honestly, I think it's because like…it just features Edward and Bella – and the meadow but it was nice to step away and focus on him explaining to her about the family, about the powers and everything. Hopefully, the next update won't be too long.


	8. The Cullens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward finally takes Bella to meet his family after two weeks having passed and Bella is afraid that they won't like her with her meeting Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie along with Alice and Jasper with Edward having been more than surprised to see two familiar faces. Bella is taken on a tour of the house and Edward explains some of Carlisle's history with him hoping that Carlisle can explain more before Bella is back down in the kitchen and there's tension in the air....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was the hardest one I've written because it solely focused on Edward and Bella as well as on the meadow scene. This chapter is different because it has scenes incorporated from the movie and the book in along with some dialogue that is SM's but it does have my own twists on it. Thank you for supporting this story so far. I must apologise for the gaps in updating but I am trying to get a proper schedule set up so I can delve deeper into this story. - Devil.

  

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_“They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies. Nor can spirits ever be divided, that love and live in the same divine principle, the root and record of their friendship. If absence be not death, neither is theirs…” – William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude/More Fruits of Solitude._

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**Forks, Washington – Saturday 22 nd March 2014.  **

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Mottled grey covered the sky, blocking out the sun and the air is heavy with the dampness of a coming thunderstorm with Bella laying her arm across her eyes, groggy and dazed as she rolled onto her side, struggling to fully open her eyes at first and then the previous day flooded back; as she remembered the talk that she had with Edward - how he wanted her to meet his family and finally, after almost two weeks - she was able to meet them for the first time. 

The time that had passed since their conversation in the meadow was because Edward persuaded Carlisle to contact Emmett, not entirely expecting an argument on the other end to break out as Emmett didn't want to miss meeting the human but both his siblings had gone to Cambridge, England after spending several days with Tanya, Irina, Kate, Eleazar and Carmen in Alaska. Hermione adamantly refused to come at first before Emmett promised Carlisle and without his own knowledge, Edward that he would persuade her to change her mind, to see  _sense_ so they could meet the girl who had become so taken with him; so happy to ignore the danger that she put herself in by just knowing their secret and getting to know the family more. 

"Oh," Bella sat up so fast, it made her head spin at first and she spotted Edward sitting in the rocking chair in the corner with her being surprised at first that he was still there as she was getting used to his presence; especially during the night unless he had gone hunting with his siblings or Carlisle and Esme - with her rejoicing at the idea he had stayed the entire night. 

Thoughtlessly; she threw herself across the room and into his lap, before her mind caught up with her actions and she froze, shocked by her uncontrolled enthusiasm and stared up at him, afraid that she had crossed the wrong line but all he did was laugh at her, rolling his eyes despite being startled by what she had done, and his hands pressed against her back. She jumped back up again, when she remembered about her father and she headed towards the door when Edward spoke; telling her that he had left an hour ago after reattaching her battery cables. 

She deliberated where she stood, wanting to return to him but her feet seemed to stop her, and she knew that she was never usually this confused in the morning with her being wary as she knew that this would be the day where she would be meeting the Cullens for the first time; at their home and that in itself was bizarre to think about as it meant they were more comfortable to be themselves rather than what they were like during the school day. 

"You're not usually this confused," he noted, blinking several times as he knew that it would be difficult if Emmett and Hermione didn't come to Forks; but since neither showed up when he went home to speak to Alice and to Carlisle; to prepare his family for the meeting of Bella - he had his own doubts that they would even come to Forks, to make the long-journey from Cambridge back to the States. 

"I need another human minute," she admitted and rushed out of her room, going to the bathroom after she remembered to grab her clothes and a towel with her emotions being unrecognisable as the face in the mirror was practically a stranger - eyes too bright, hectic spots of red across her cheekbones and she brushed her teeth first before straightening out the tangled chaos that was her hair; so it wouldn't be so knotty when she got into the shower. 

It took at least ten to fifteen minutes before she came out of the bathroom, ready for the day and she forced herself to breathe normally, walking fast back to her room and it seemed like a miracle to her that he was there, in her room - his arms reaching out to her and her heart thumped unsteadily with her having wrapped her arms around his waist as he held her in an embrace. There was silence for a while until she noticed that his clothes were changed; his hair smoother than it had been when she had fallen asleep with her feeling a little dismayed that he had left at some point during the night. 

"You left," she accused, touching the collar of his fresh shirt which was a cold blue colour and she stared up at him as he told her that he could hardly have left in the clothes he had come in with her scowling a little. 

"You were fast asleep, I didn't miss anything," Edward told her; not telling her that he went home to see if Emmett and Hermione arrived; having told her the day before that it would be a shock to the system, if they did as she found out that the two had left the States, having gone to settle into their new home in Cambridge, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. "The talking came earlier." He said, his eyes glinting as he stared at her. 

She groaned. "What did you hear?" 

His light-golden eyes grew softer. "You said you loved me." 

"You knew that already," she reminded him, ducking her head before he said that it was nice to hear as she buried her face against his shoulder and whispered "I love you," with him telling her that she was his life now and there was nothing more to say for the moment as he rocked us back and forth with the room gradually getting lighter, as some of the light trickled in but it was still a cloud-filled day ahead. 

"Breakfast time," he said eventually, being so casual about it before she clutched her throat with both hands, staring at him with wide eyes and there was shock that etched across his face. 

"Kidding!" Bella snickered, rolling her eyes. "And you said I  _couldn't_  act." 

He frowned in disgust. "That wasn't funny." 

"It was very funny, and you know it." She scanned his eyes carefully, making sure that she was forgiven for the 'bad joke' that she made and was grateful that there was no disgust or resentment in his gaze with her knowing that he had forgiven her for it and he asked her a rhetorical question before rephrasing his words, telling her that it was breakfast time for the human. 

It didn't take long for them to go down to the kitchen with Bella refusing to be carried like he was going to do as all he had to do was throw her over his shoulder and carry her down the stairs; but he heeded her wish to go down by herself and he joined her with the kitchen being bright, happy even and it was absorbing the happy mood that Bella found herself in. 

"What's for breakfast?" Bella asked, politely. 

It threw him off for a minute. "I'm not sure. What would you like?" His eyebrows raised, as he stared at her as she was still stood in the kitchen with her telling him that she fended for herself well and he sat down, his shoulders slouching a little as he watched her move around the kitchen - finding a bowl, a box of cereal and a spoon with her feeling his eyes on her as she poured the milk into the bowl and then put the milk away. 

She sat down after placing her food down on the table and paused, wondering if she could get him anything but all he did was roll his eyes at her as she did ask him if he wanted anything; since she didn't want to be rude and all she got in response was getting told to eat with her glancing up at him occasionally as she ate her cereal slowly, not rushing herself. 

"What's on the agenda today?" She asked, not entirely being certain on if the plan was still on - of her meeting his family as he never said anything while they were upstairs, and she was being cautious; as of course she was nervous, as she worried about the family not liking her at all rather than worrying about if she would be in a lot of danger when surrounded by a family of vampires in their own home. 

"To meet my family," he cautiously framed his answer, as he was wary about it for some reason and her eyes widened a little as she looked up at him, as she had shared her thoughts about her worries - about not being liked by any of his family, despite having met Carlisle in the hospital and briefly meeting Rosalie when she caught up with Edward in the hospital corridor. 

"Do they know I know about them?" Bella hadn't managed to ask him that question before and it was in the back of her mind; as despite two weeks having passed since she officially knew about what his family were, it was never something that could be asked while they were in school as there were too many ears listening in as the two made it official in a way that they were seeing each other - at least in school with her being grateful that her father didn't know as he was busy, trying to deal with the murder of Waylon Forge. 

"Oh, they already know everything. They'd taken bets yesterday, you know..." he smiled, but his tone was harsh. "on whether that I would bring you to the house, though why anyone would bet against Alice, I can't imagine. At any rate, we don't have secrets in the family. It's not feasible, what with my mind reading and Alice seeing the future and all that." 

"But Emmett and Hermione..."

"That's different.  _They..._ Alice didn't see because they managed to keep it from her and by the time any of us knew, it was too late and I'm not entirely sure who made the final decision. If it was Hermione who picked England, or it was Emmett, though he knows how much our sister wishes to return, to go back and..." His facial expression turned sour and it was then that Bella realised her mistake, of bringing it up instead of telling him that Jasper made them feel all warm and fuzzy about spilling their secrets. 

"Did Alice see me coming?" 

His reaction was strange. "Something like that," he said uncomfortably, turning away so she couldn't see the expression on his face or in his eyes and she stared at him curiously before he suddenly turned back to face her; asking if her breakfast was good as it didn't look very appealing to him at all with him wondering how it changed to when he was a human to now in terms of the variety of meals. 

"Well it's no irritable grizzly," she murmured, more to herself than to him and ignored him when he glared as she was still wondering why he responded that way when she mentioned Alice with her speculating silently while she finished off her breakfast as he stared out of the back windows, past her head with him trying his hardest not to constantly stare at her. 

Then his eyes were on her once again, and he smiled softly. “And you should introduce me to your father, too, I think.” It was a mere distraction from what was mentioned as he often wondered who made the final decision when it came to Emmett and Hermione moving away – moving out of Seattle and across the other side of the world.

“He already knows you.”

“I meant as your boyfriend.”

“Why?”

“I heard it was customary,” he stated, innocently.

She pushed the remains of her cereal around the edges of the bowl, biting her lip as she didn’t expect him to want to pretend for her, but he was true to his word when he said he wasn’t pretending before he demanded to know if she was going to tell Charlie about him or not.

“Is that what you are?”

“It’s a loose interpretation of the word ‘boy’,” he muttered; knowing that if one of his siblings were present, he would be laughed at – either silently or out-loud because of the words he chose to say to her and he cautiously stared at her again.

“I was under the impression that you were something more…”

“I don’t know if we need to give him all the _gory_ details,” he stared at her as she finally finished her breakfast and set her spoon down in the bowl, as she processed what he said. “He’ll need an explanation as to why I’m around here so much as I don’t want him getting a restraining order on me.”

“Will you be?”

“As long as you want me.”

“I’ll always want you,” Bella muttered. “Forever.”

His expression was unfathomable and there was only silence filling the air before she asked him if that made him sad; but he didn’t answer until he asked if she was finished yet and it didn’t take long for her to get up, as she washed the bowl and the spoon in the sink before going upstairs to finish getting ready.

Edward waited for her at the foot of the stairs, closer than she thought he would be and she ended up colliding into him as she rushed down with him steadying her onto her feet as he smiled softly at her before he pulled away from her.

It wasn’t long before they were on the road in his car, travelling out of the main part of town with Bella realising that she didn’t have any idea on where he lived with them passing over the bridge at the Calawah River, the road winding northward, the houses flashing past them were growing further apart and then they were past the other houses altogether.

The forest encroached on both sides, leaving the road only discernible for a few meters as it twisted, around the ancient trees and after a few miles, there was some thinning of the woods and they were suddenly driving up a long, private driveway. It was a large, graceful house which was modern and open with the use of natural materials making the sleek, contemporary house suitable for its secluded location which made Bella stare out of the window in awe as she could hear the river close by, hidden in the forest.

“Wow.”

“You like it?”

“It’s so light and open,” she couldn’t think of anything else to say really and it wasn’t long before he switched off the engine, getting out and soon opened her door, taking her hand easily once she was out of the car and the door was shut behind her.

They walked up the large grey, concrete front steps and through the glass front door with walls of glass looking out onto the woods and to the river with everything being open and historical objects placed tastefully throughout.

“The windows are tinted, so it’s the one place we don’t have to hide ourselves,” he told her as she heard the music and the clanging coming from the kitchen which was on the first floor and there was a quiet murmur from Esme to Rosalie about Bella’s arrival – that only Edward heard.

Walking up the staircase; he told Bella that he did tell his family not to do anything elaborate, before they reached the kitchen where Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie were busy, prepping the Italian recipes that had been picked out from one of Esme’s cookbooks.

Bella assumed that it was Esme who was rolling out a pizza dough next to Rosalie who was chopping something up – with her having the same pale, beautiful features as the rest of them and something about her heart-shaped face, her wavy and soft caramel coloured hair reminded Bella of a woman from the silent-movie era.

She was at least five feet six in height, slender and yet less angular, more rounded than Rosalie or Alice were and wore a purple sleeveless blouse and a navy-blue skirt with her having a silver bracelet on her left wrist which had the Cullen family crest on.

It was when they stepped in the room properly, that she noticed two others in the kitchen who she had never seen before – there was a woman who had long, curly chestnut-brown hair and was at least an inch or so taller than Bella, holding a glass bowl that was being filled with salad by a very tall, very large and intimidating man who had short curly dark-brown hair and was very handsome.

Bella knew that they must have been Hermione and Emmett, the two siblings who had moved from Forks to Seattle before leaving after two years to go all the way across the world to study in Cambridge, England which made meeting them even more unnerving. Grasping Edward’s hand; she warily glanced at the two as Esme stopped what she was doing and finally stepped away from the counter, moving gracefully towards Bella to greet her with a warm hug.

“Bella, we’re making some Italian for you,” Esme told her, as she smiled softly with her welcoming Edward back silently, instead of out-loud with him muttering to Bella that Esme was _his mother_ for all intents and purposes as he glanced towards his brother and sister who he hadn’t seen in weeks – noticing the scowl deepening on his sister’s face.

“You’ve given us an excuse to use the kitchen.” Carlisle told her, gently as he pressed pause on the DVD remote as he was paying attention to an Italian cooking show on a small television with there being a cookbook in front of Rosalie and another where Hermione was with Emmett.

“I hope you’re hungry,” said Esme who smiled at her, softly as she was still standing near the two despite throwing a cautious glance over to Emmett and Hermione, as they hadn’t introduced themselves with Emmett trying his hardest to keep Hermione focused on preparing the salad, rather than breaking the bowl again.

She had already broken three bowls before Bella and Edward arrived with it having been his task to clean it all up afterwards and he was kind enough to warn his brother via his thoughts on the mood that their sister was in; which wasn’t helped by the fact that the two hadn’t hunted in a while.

“Bella, this is…Emmett and Hermione, my brother and sister,” he told her, after squeezing her hand to reassure her that everything was going to be fine; that there would be no risk, though he knew there was a _small_ chance of something bad happening.

Edward had been taken back by their appearance in the kitchen; as he swore they weren’t there when he had been over earlier that morning and that was when he realised that they made the trip all the way from Cambridge, England – with him knowing that it wasn’t Carlisle who managed to persuade them to go; as it was Emmett who got Hermione to agree to come back.

The relationship that Carlisle and Hermione shared was difficult, more so than Rosalie and Carlisle’s relationship as at the end of Hermione’s human life; she had started to accept that death was the only way forward, that there was no one coming to save her, and she would be reunited with those who lost – reunited with Fred whose life had been taken only a few hours earlier.

Now she was faced with the prospect of living _forever_ as a vampire drinking the blood of animals despite her _slip-ups_ in her new-born year; she was getting better at it as the days passed by and to never be reunited with Fred or to be able to see her friends who were striving with life took a toll on her. As they found out a few years ago who had won the Second Wizarding War, of those who managed to climb higher and those who fell so far; despite it being with great difficulty.

 He knew it was harder now because Emmett nor Hermione were living with them, having made the hardest choice possible which was to split off from the family and to live where they wanted to be; yet still being a part of it as despite the surname change; they were very much a part of the family as Esme wouldn’t have it any other way, neither would Carlisle.

Bella expected for one of them at least to greet her, as she even got a polite smile from Rosalie to welcome her and even acknowledge her presence without words being spoken but Hermione was paying attention to how finely cut the vegetables were and Emmett merely got back to cutting up the salad, despite him wanting to greet her, deep down – it was better not to.

“She won’t want to eat…” Edward started to tell Esme that Bella wouldn’t be eating straight away after it seemed to get uncomfortable because of the silence; as he knew she hadn’t long had breakfast and knew she’d want to eat later instead of straight away as well as him wanting her to give her a short tour of the house first.

Something shattered half-way through him saying something as Bella almost interrupted, until she went silent due to the bowl that had been in Hermione’s hands shattering and the contents of the salad was on the floor, once again. _“Perfect,”_ She hissed as Edward grimaced, watching his sister stride past, managing to avoid any contact with Bella at all and disappeared; heading towards the living room instead of the one which was connected to the kitchen.

It was a shock to the system when Bella let go of his hand and turned, following his sister out without warning, trying to explain with the others soon following and Emmett knew it was better to reach his sister first; than Edward because of the mood she was in.

Bella’s bravery surprised Carlisle and Esme, to approach the newest member of the family who hadn’t hunted in days with it being noticeable because of how dark her eyes were as the dark purple circles under her eyes were covered up by make-up.

“Ignore her, I do.” Edward commented, quietly to Bella after he reached her and there was a flash of anger on his sister’s face; with only Emmett’s hand stopping her from moving as she was so close to wanting to hurt her brother.

“Let’s keep pretending this isn’t dangerous, for all of us, Edward.” Hermione’s tone was bitter as she spoke, with her dark-golden, almost black eyes flashing in anger as her expression suddenly turned blank as she glanced at Bella who involuntarily gulped.

“I would never, ever tell anyone about you.” Bella murmured, shocked by the harshness as she had been warned about Rosalie who was bitter about the whole idea of letting her into their secret, into their family as it wasn’t something she agreed with – but she was never warned about Hermione, because not even Edward knew they would be there.

“She knows that,” said Carlisle, softly as he warily glanced towards Hermione whose arm was in Emmett’s steel grip, to stop her from moving closer to them as they were stood close to the back of the living room, towards the patio doors with Bella only just noticing that Emmett wore the same leather cuff bracelet that Edward wore on his right wrist while Hermione wore a silver necklace with the family crest on.

“The problem is, you two have gone public now, so…” Emmett stated, as he released his grip on his sister’s arm and put his arm around her shoulder instead; so, he could restrain her if it was necessary with him only having to move his arms to her waist instead to restrain her.

“Emmett.” Esme warned him, as she was stood closer to Rosalie than she was to Carlisle with the only two missing were Alice and Jasper, as Edward wrapped his arm around Bella with his eyes narrowing at Hermione in warning, as though he dared her to do something.

“No, she should know,” said Hermione before anyone else could interrupt, as she had opinions on the entire matter, with Rosalie staying quiet instead of interrupting her as the two shared similar thoughts about it, despite Hermione putting the Volturi more at the forefront of her mind – on what they could do to the family. “The entire family will be…implicated if this ends badly.”

“Badly?” said Bella, startled by her words and then she realised what she meant with Edward not even being able to look at her, as she automatically assumed that she meant becoming a _meal_ and Rosalie scowled at her words as Emmett choked back on laughter and Edward grinned, though he kept his arm around her.

Hermione didn’t laugh or break a smile; she merely looked disgruntled by it and pierced her lips into a thin line, as she wanted the girl to understand. “No, I didn’t mean as a meal. I meant if the Volturi…” a sharp elbow to the ribs stopped her from continuing her sentence as Emmett elbowed her in warning, as he saw the dark expression on his brother’s face.

“…The Volturi?”

“She doesn’t mean anything by…”

“Is that how we’re going to address it, Edward? By simply shoving it all under a rug and forgetting about it. The Volturi _don’t_ give second chances and she should know everything instead of you highlighting what to her seems to be a _wonderful life_ ,”

“Hermione,” Carlisle cautioned her, before there was this look on her face, as she directed the animosity that she was feeling towards him instead of Edward like she intended with there being a deep scowl on her face which made Esme wish that she would take another approach to looking at things, but the war she had lived and endured had scarred her for life.

Bella was confused by what she was trying to suggest, but she was also annoyed that there was something being kept from her as the Volturi had been briefly explained once before while they were in the meadow, yet nothing came from it. Not enough in her mind; as Hermione seemed to be hinting at something that she thought the girl would know.

“She doesn’t…”

“Isabella needs to learn, Edward. If she wants to be part of this life one day, because clearly, she won’t be getting her choice _ripped away_ from her,” hissed Hermione with her thoughts being more unpleasant and harsh towards him, than the words spoken out-loud.

Emmett moved his arm from around his sister’s shoulders; looking anxious as he too shared a different opinion towards the long, straight brown-haired and chocolate-brown eyed teenage girl who was younger than him and Hermione in human years; as she was only seventeen.

He sighed when Hermione stormed out, not going anywhere near Bella – which was lucky on her part and disappeared with him muttering something under his breath as he went over to Rosalie and kissed her softly on the lips before he disappeared.

Rosalie and Esme were the first to leave the living room after that with them going back into the kitchen as they had some cleaning up to do and they still had to finish cooking with Edward, Bella and Carlisle having joined them as Alice leaped over the railing on the balcony with a bouquet of wild flowers in her hands.

 Jasper cautiously followed her, as she bounded forward to greet Bella and kissed her cheek before handing her the wildflowers; with the two seeming oblivious to the tension that had been there, having eased away as Hermione and Emmett vanished.

“Hi Bella. I’m Alice, and you _do_ smell good,” Alice beamed at her, as she was excited to finally meet the girl that had stolen her brother’s heart with her being warned by her brother not to continue with whatever she was going to say.

“It’s alright. Bella and I are going to be great friends,” she murmured afterwards despite getting the warning from her brother, she was eager to continue and stepped back a little so then Bella could finally greet Jasper who was standing behind Alice.

“And you’re Jasper, right?”

“Pleasure to meet you,” he murmured, but he didn’t take her hand like Bella thought he would have and it was more being cautious than anything else before Alice told him that he wouldn’t hurt her with it all being very strange to Bella.

“I’ll give you a tour of the house, while they finish cooking and then you can eat,” Edward told Bella as he still wanted to take her on a short tour with him knowing which rooms were off-limits and which weren’t as the bedrooms except for his were off-limits.

It was Alice and Jasper’s job to clean up the salad and all the shattered glass as well as to make another appealing salad while Bella was taken on a tour of the house as they went upstairs, with her noticing the wall décor that was filled with graduation caps and Edward said that it was a private joke between the family before they reached his room.

Bella entered his bedroom, finding a wall of glass doors open to a deck with the river beyond and the rest of the room was covered in floor to ceiling CD’s, vinyl records, eight-track tapes and two floor to ceiling bookcases filled with books and journals along with a sophisticated iPod/Stereo system set up as well as an old vintage record player.

“So, you’re obsessed with music and books but…there’s no bed,” Bella looked around, only seeing the long white chaise lounge sofa in the room instead of a bed which was a little bizarre in her mind, but she soon learned they never slept and they hadn’t since they were human with that thought unsettling her as she couldn’t imagine not being able to sleep, to be able to switch herself off and delve into her dreams.

“Hermione’s room doesn’t have a bed in it either,” said Edward as Bella looked around the rest of his room with her looking back at him as she was surprised by his words with her having passed Rosalie’s room, Carlisle’s office as well as Jasper and Alice’s room.

“It doesn’t?”

“All the stuff that Emmett and Hermione didn’t want to take with them is placed in her room, and well it made it easier to move it all in there when there’s no bed,” he explained with it being a brief explanation before even Bella could hear raised voices, coming from outside as Emmett and Hermione were arguing which made him move towards the glass doors that were wide open and closed them.

He distracted her by putting on some music and they danced for a little while before he took her back towards the stairs to go down to the kitchen when she noticed the large wooden cross hanging above her head at the end of the hall with her being bewildered by it as she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it when they first walked down the hallway.

“It must be very old,” she guessed.

Edward shrugged. “Early sixteen-thirties, at least,” which made Bella look away from the cross to stare at him with her wondering why they kept it there before it was revealed that it was nostalgic since it belonged to Carlisle’s father.

“He collected antiques?” Bella suggested, doubtfully with her listening intently as Edward explained that his father carved the cross himself with it having hung on the wall above the pulpit in the vicarage where Carlisle’s father preached.

Bella wasn’t certain if her facial expression betrayed her shock; but she gazed at the simple, ancient cross to try and hide the shock with her being able to quickly do the mental math on how old the cross was with it being at least over three hundred and eighty years old. The silence stretched as she struggled to wrap her mind around the concept of so many years.

“Are you alright?”

“How old is Carlisle?” Bella asked quietly, knowing the others were still in the kitchen because Edward told her that was where they going as they had finished preparing the meal for her with no sign of Emmett and Hermione coming back into the house.

“He’s not long celebrated his three hundred and seventy-fourth birthday,” Edward said as he launched into the explanation about Carlisle and his past with him having been born in London, England in February 1640 and transformed into a vampire in 1663. Bella listened as intently as ever as he delved deep but not too deep into Carlisle’s past as of course the story behind his human life and his vampire one was only his to tell so he did skim over a fair bit of the story in hopes that she would be able to sit down with Carlisle and get his personal account of everything.

 

“…When the pastor grew old, he placed his obedient son in charge of the raids. At first Carlisle was a disappointment; he wasn’t quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist, but he was persistent and cleverer than his father,” Edward explained, his eyes flickering as he glanced towards Bella who was still staring at the cross and wondered what she was thinking.

“He actually discovered a coven of true vampires who were living in the sewers of the city, only coming out by night to hunt. In those days, when monsters were not just myths and legends, it was the way many lived. The people gathered their pitchforks and torches, of course,” this time he chuckled before he continued. “and waited where Carlisle had seen the monsters exit into the street. Eventually one emerged.”

It wasn’t long before Bella realised that he was editing something, keeping something from her as he went on with his lengthy explanation, despite Rosalie commenting in her thoughts that Bella could wait for a history lesson and eat the food that was prepared for her instead.

Edward winced at the barrage of thoughts that hit him as he continued, knowing that the rest would be up to Carlisle to explain but he thought while they were stood, facing the ancient cross that it was time to tell her something about his creator, his _father._

“…Carlisle knew what his father would do. The bodies would be burned, anything infected by the monster must be destroyed. He acted instinctively to save his own life, having crawled away from the alley while the mob followed the fiend and his victim. He hid in a cellar, buried himself in rotting potatoes for three days and it’s a miracle he was able to keep silent, to stay undiscovered.”

Bella’s expression changed as he led her away from the cross, after being promised that after she had eaten some food – she would be able to ask him questions and even Carlisle since he had a day off work as he had been working non-stop for a while and it was making a few colleagues concerned.

As she tucked into the freshly made pizza which had chicken, thinly chopped tomatoes, mushroom and onions on – she tried ignoring the quiet conversation that Edward and Carlisle were having in the living room that was connected to the kitchen with her sitting on a chair at the counter. Hermione entered through the door that Alice and Jasper had come through with her expression changing almost immediately, as she saw Bella sitting at the kitchen counter, eating the food that had been prepared for and her eyes were now a light, honey gold colour.

Bella instantly sat up straighter, with her having hesitated as she swallowed the mouthful food that she had in her mouth and wasn’t quite certain in what she wanted to say to her as Hermione was given a quiet warning from Edward.  

“What did you mean earlier when you said the whole family would be implicated?” asked Bella, carefully as she noticed that she was heading out of the kitchen, rather than staying in it and her words made her stop walking with her slowly turning around.

“We are bound by law to protect the secret of our existence, and we’ve broken that law because you have knowledge of us, of what we are, Isabella…” Hermione didn’t know the ins and outs of what happened, how Bella finally discovered what they were; but she blamed Edward for revealing even part of his true nature all those weeks earlier in the parking lot at Forks High.

“But he didn’t…”

“It doesn’t matter if he did or he didn’t. He was the first of us to know that you knew anything, and he knows what he _should_ have done,” If Bella wasn’t warned by Edward that his sister had a cold demeanour; she would have been taken back by her harsh approach as Hermione was changed, her personality being different from what it was like when she was a human.

“I don’t understand…”

Hermione’s eyes narrowed, her mouth set in a hard line, as she stared towards the human who was naïve as she didn’t fully understand how it all worked – not even knowing the full extent of how hard it was transitioning from a human to a vampire.

To be immortal indefinitely, though it was a conditional form of immortality as they could be permanently destroyed by fire after being torn apart. Never being able to sleep, never being able to completely switch off or forget.

“The law clearly states that our interaction with humans should not draw wide attention and if a human becomes aware of us, the vampire at fault would be responsible for silencing that human,” she told her in a flat tone.

Bella’s face drained of colour, as she had been about to eat another mouthful of the delicious meal which she did thank the others for before they dispersed into different areas of the house, to leave her to eat her meal without staring at her. She didn’t hear the second warning that Edward gave his sister; as it was too quick and far too quiet for her human ears to pick up on it, but it didn’t make Hermione stop looking at her as she watched the blood drain from her face.

“Silencing…”

“Don’t.” Edward warned his sister, as he suddenly appeared near the kitchen counter as he had seen how quick the colour drained from Bella’s face and how disturbed her gaze became as she tried figuring out what his sister meant by _silencing the human._

“She needs to know.”

“Not like this…not when she’s only just…”

“The world isn’t black and white, Edward. There isn’t just good and evil, there’s more to it than that and for her to become _part of this_ …she needs to know.” Hermione hissed at him as Carlisle was ready to intervene if he needed to, as her temper could flare and the air around her would crackle.

“You’re talking out of fear for…”

“Don’t talk to her about _fear_ , Edward.” Emmett’s voice made Bella jump as she had never heard him speak before and she hadn’t noticed him entering the kitchen until he was suddenly standing beside Hermione, his honey gold eyes darting to where Bella was sat before his focus turned to his brother.

Bella wondered if she could sense fear or dread all the time; if being near someone who was terrified of something made her uncomfortable or if she was used to the feeling and it took her a minute or two to realise that her heart was thumping hard against her chest with her being stared at; not only by Edward but by Hermione, Emmett and Carlisle.

She missed something when she was lost in her own thoughts, trying to make sense of the power that Edward tried his best to describe without giving it all away and there was a dark expression on the other woman’s face which made her wary. “He didn’t…” Bella managed to blurt the words out, but couldn’t find it in her to continue.

Hermione’s power worked in a strange way; as though it was like Jasper’s in the sense that he could not only make people feel emotions but also feel them himself – hers was more unpleasant because she could feel the fear and dread constantly, even if she wasn’t manipulating someone. Not even Eleazar could explain why her _gift_ would be always on and why it wasn’t merely a case of her being able to ratchet up the fear inside someone without knowing the base level of fear that they were already at.

“He said enough.”

“Mi…” said Emmett who put his hand on her shoulder, with him subtly putting pressure on her shoulder by digging his fingertips into the skin as he knew what could happen if her temper flared and it wouldn’t be at all pretty if she and Edward started fighting while Bella was present.

“Do you want to know what I feel every day, Isabella? I feel fear, not just in other people, but in myself ever since the day I _woke up_ like this and at first it was all mixed with confusion and the bloodlust,” Hermione directed her words towards Bella who was rigid in her seat, her shoulders were tense, and her eyes were wide as she never thought of Hermione ever really speaking to her.

 Bella was wary; as she suspected that neither Hermione or Emmett would hold back on their descriptions or their telling of something while Edward did on some occasions or he wouldn’t answer a certain question that she asked him – despite it only being a few weeks since she knew their secret.

“…Stop it, Hermione.” Edward’s lips drew back into a snarl as he heard something that Bella presumed was unpleasant in her mind and suddenly, Esme was in the room with her having been careful not to make her jump as she pressed her hand down on her shoulder.

“You can finish it upstairs, if you want to.” Esme suggested to her, as Bella glanced down at the half-finished meal that she had been enjoying before it got tense and because she didn’t know what to say, she merely nodded.

It was a spur of the moment idea as Esme had heard Jasper speaking to Rosalie about how it was getting far too tense in the kitchen while she had been upstairs with her knowing someone would have to intervene, even if Carlisle and Emmett were down there.

Once Bella went up the stairs with Esme carrying the plate of food, the utensils and the drink up with her – she didn’t know what happened downstairs as there was nothing that she heard which was frightening or something to be concerned about; but she knew she’d confront Edward later about it.

Never expecting to be able to eat the food in Edward’s bedroom with one of the doors at the far-end being left open to air the room out or for Esme to come in and check on her; after a while or for her plate and cutlery to be taken down to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, if Hermione was too…straightforward with you.” Esme murmured as Edward had asked her to check on her and she had been amused when she saw Bella looking through the music collection that he had acquired over time.

“It’s okay,” Bella glanced at Esme as she had come inside the room with the bedroom door remaining open and watched as she grabbed the soft throw that was tossed aimlessly on the chaise-lounge sofa with her folding it up.

“I didn’t think they would come back,” she sighed, as she blinked with her tone being soft as she sat down with the throw being placed on her lap as Bella moved from looking at the CDs on one of the shelves and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa. “I was surprised when they showed up, coming through the forest…”

Bella listened to each word, noting the happiness that she showed not only in her tone; but in her face as her whole face lit up as she explained that they had come on foot from Seattle after not choosing to get a rental as it was all last-minute planning.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Bella.”

“Do you have a lot of issues with being a vampire like…Edward does?” She didn’t dare bring Hermione’s name into it as she knew that Rosalie struggled with being a vampire – at least that’s what Edward told her during one of their talks.

Esme looked thoughtful for a moment and placed the folded-up throw down beside her with her smoothing her skirt over her knees. “I think it’s different for everyone. I struggled at first with the thirst,” her left hand drifted to her throat, playing with the necklace that rested there. “I have to carry that guilt with me, you know. It never truly goes away. But you learn from it, and you try harder next time. There are things I miss…”

She took a deep breath as she seemed to hesitate in her explanation to her, as she was willing to share her story with her personally, in more-depth than Edward would have done, and Bella listened to every word that left Esme’s lips.

“I gave up when I jumped off the cliff and Carlisle gave me so much in the end,” Esme told her, after revealing that her first child – her son had died just a few days after he was born and how it had broken her heart with her having called Edward a gentleman because Bella told her that he only said she fell.

“Carlisle left town so soon after we met that…”

“Wait, what?” Bella asked, her eyes wide. “I thought Carlisle found you in a morgue and turned you to save your life?”

“That was the second time we met. The first was in Columbus, when I fell out of a tree…” Esme eyed Bella sceptically, as she thought Edward would have at least shared that piece of information with her; even if it was early in their relationship.

“No, he said that Carlisle found you soon after he turned him and that you had been in the morgue, but your heart was still beating…” She felt ashamed to say the words; as she wondered why Edward kept something like that from her – even if it was early into it all.

“I was a little younger than you when I met him. I had fallen out of a tree that I was climbing and broke my leg – the local doctor was away so my father had to take me into Columbus to the hospital. Most of my human memories are hazy, but I remember everything about that hospital visit…”

She told her how she expected an old man with glasses to walk through the door but instead Carlisle was the one who greeted her and for Bella to find out that Esme had been a teenager when she first met Carlisle was surprising as she didn’t think she’d share anything in common with them.

Delving deep into her story, Esme told her how the doctors back in 1911 didn’t pay much attention to _silly young ladies_ who climbed trees except Carlisle was interested in all her ramblings and how he even told her that her dream to go out west and be a teacher sounded like a great adventure.

“I think I fell in love with him then,” Esme admitted, as her mouth curved into a smile.

“But you said he left…”

“Yes,” said Esme. “It was time for him to move, and I never saw him again in my human life. Not even once…but I judged all other men against him and none could measure up. I did give into my parents’ wishes and married. I even tried to make the best of it.” Esme’s face was haunted for a moment and she shook her head. Bella knew there was obviously more to the story there, but she didn’t want to overstep her boundaries. “I never forgot Carlisle. And I am sure I was not the first girl to fall in love with Carlisle Cullen. There must have been dozens, maybe hundreds of us…”

“In the end, he chose you.”

Esme smiled at her and then looked thoughtful again. “Just like Edward chose you, and I’m so happy that he’s found you, dear.” She did wonder what would have happened if Carlisle had stayed, if they had gotten to know each other then and if he had fallen in love with her when she was a human; but she kept those thoughts to herself.

“You don’t mind, then?” Bella asked, hesitant. “That I’m all…wrong for him.”

“No, you are what he wants, and it will work out, somehow.” Esme assured her, as she knew that it would be difficult for her and for Edward, but she hoped everything would work out, that they would be both happy together.

Bella wanted to ask if now that Edward was seeing her, it made Hermione the odd one out – but in her mind, it was too rude of a question to ask and they did sit in silence for a little while before there were footsteps heard coming up the stairs as the one going up them purposely made her aware that they were coming up.

“Is everything alright?” asked Esme, concerned as she saw the expression on her _oldest_ son’s face as she had explained to Bella that she felt like they were her children – that Edward was her first son in this new life without forgetting the son she lost and even if two of them were older than her in vampire years.

“Everything’s fine. Carlisle and Hermione are…talking in his study, and Emmett’s gone to find Rosalie,” he murmured, his eyes flickering as he glanced towards Bella before his gaze rested on Esme who stood up gracefully.

She kissed his cheek in an endearing manner and told Bella that she hoped to see her later after giving her a hug before she left the room with him leaving the door ajar as he moved over to the sofa, picking up a remote and turned the stereo on – a soft jazz number started playing.

“I’m sorry if…”

“You’re still waiting for the running and the screaming, aren’t you?” Bella interrupted him from apologising to her as she knew that it was a tough situation and deep down she was regretting what she asked Hermione in the kitchen – as she should have let her leave the room instead of directing questions at her.

A faint smile touched his lips, and he nodded. “I hate to burst your bubble, but you’re not as scary as you think you are. I don’t find you scary at all, actually.” Bella lied, casually with him having stopped as he was about to join her on the sofa and then raised his eyebrows in disbelief. A wide, wicked smile flashed on his face.

“You _really_ shouldn’t have said that,” he murmured before a low sound in the back of his throat was heard as he growled, his lips curled back over his teeth and his body shifted suddenly, half-crouched, tensed like a lion about to strike.

“You wouldn’t.” Bella moved back, as she had gotten up from the sofa when Esme left the room; but she didn’t see him leap at her, it was far too fast with her suddenly finding herself airborne and then they crashed onto the sofa, knocking it back.

“You were saying?” he growled playfully, seeming well in control as his jaw relaxed as he grinned and his eyes bright only with humour as she was held more securely than iron chains with her having glared at him in alarm as she was still gasping as she tried to right herself.

“That you are a very, terrifying monster,” she said, her sarcasm seeping through despite it being marred by her breathless voice with him seeming to approve of the answer before she asked if she could get up and all he did was laugh.

“Can we come in?” a soft voice sounded from the hall, before Bella was let go so she could sit next to him or if she wanted to sit on his lap as the door was pushed open after Edward told them to come in and it was Alice who entered with Jasper being behind her in the doorway.

“It sounded like you were having Bella for lunch, and we came to see if you would share,” Alice announced, once she walked to the middle of the room, where she folded herself sinuously onto the floor while Jasper paused at the door, his shocked expression seeming to amuse Edward.

Bella stiffened for an instant, hearing laughter from somewhere else in the house before there was another noise that made Edward roll his eyes as he grinned with her not being able to distinguish what the noise was, and she was confused on if Edward was grinning at Alice’s comment or her response.

“Sorry, I don’t believe I have enough to spare,” he replied, his arms holding her recklessly close as she decided to sit on his lap, instead of sitting next to him.

“Actually,” Jasper said, smiling as he walked into the room. “Alice says there’s going to be a real storm tonight, and Emmett wants to play ball. Are you game?” The words were common enough; but the context confused Bella.

Edward’s eyes lit up, but he hesitated. “Of course, you should bring Bella,” Alice told him as Jasper threw a quick glance at her as he wondered if the idea of Bella attending baseball would prevent Hermione from showing up.

“Do you want to go?” Edward asked her, excited.

“Sure.” Bella murmured. “Wait, where are we going?”

“We have to wait for thunder to play ball – you’ll see why,” Edward promised her, silently hoping that his sister would come to the game and play baseball with them at least once as Emmett and Hermione were only staying for a few days.

“Will I need an umbrella?”

All three of them laughed out-loud with Jasper having asked Alice if she needed to bring one before she was positive that she didn’t need to have one. “The storm will hit over town, so it should be dry enough in the clearing.”

“Good.” The enthusiasm in Jasper’s voice was catching, naturally finding herself eager, rather than scared stiff about it. “Let’s go see if Carlisle will come.” Alice bounded up and to the door in a fashion that would break any ballerina’s heart as she wanted to go speak to Carlisle.

“Like you don’t know.” Jasper teased, and they were swiftly on their way with him managing to inconspicuously close the door behind them with Bella wanting to know what they were going to be playing after the two left.

“You will be watching,” Edward clarified. “We will be playing baseball.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Vampires like baseball?”

“It’s the American past-time,” he said with mock solemnity.

“So, what happens now?” Bella inquired.

“I take you home,” he bent his head to her hair and inhaled her lovely floral scent while he was at it with him being quite content going nowhere at all with him being at peace when he was with her and then she turned her face toward his and looked in his eyes.

“So…” she started, then lost her train of thought.

“Yes?” He prompted her, with her eyes widening and her heart thumped against her chest with her moving her hair out of the way of her eyes. “Will Rosalie, Hermione and Esme come too?” she asked him, cautiously as she was wary to say Hermione’s name – not knowing if she would be listening to their conversation or not from the study.

“Rosalie will play. Esme will come if Carlisle is going to and Hermione…will more than likely be persuaded by either Jasper or Emmett, or both.” Edward’s hands slid down to her arms, touching her warm skin and took a deep breath.

It wasn’t long before he told her to breath slowly as his lips pressed against her neck and then along her jawline then he pressed them gently against hers, which parted softly in response. He inhaled her sweet breath then moved away, becoming still to let his excitement subside. Bella’s heart was beating wildly against her chest with her face being flushed and she opened her eyes after she had closed them during the kiss. Her heartbeat gradually returning to somewhere near normal.

“Are you alright?” Edward murmured.

“Yes, I think so,” she replied in a raspy tone. “Your breath is sickly sweet, it’s…intoxicating.”

_As is the scent of your blood._ Hermione’s comment in her mind made Edward think about what it would be like to taste her blood, though once they’d tasted it – the frenzy begun, and he knew he couldn’t even imagine to be strong enough to stop.

“We should go,” said Edward, warily.

Bella agreed, moving off his lap and stood up with him getting up after she did and the two left his bedroom, walking side-by-side through the hallway, down the stairs with Bella managing to say goodbye to Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Alice as Jasper, Hermione and Emmett were nowhere to be seen.

According to Alice, they had several hours before the thunderstorm would arrive and it started to drizzle in Forks as he turned his car onto the street that Bella lived with Edward noticing Billy and Jacob Black at Charlie’s door, their car parked next to Bella’s truck.

Billy was wondering how he could let Charlie to the dangerous nature of the Cullen coven and of Edward and without breaking the treaty or incurring Charlie’s wrath. He had angered Charlie once before when he expressed his opinions about the family.

“This is crossing the line.”

“He came to warn Charlie?” asked Bella.

Edward nodded with him staring Billy down as he pulled the car to the curb and knew that the last thing the family needed besides meddling Quileute’s was the Chief of Police watching his every move with Bella offering to deal with it herself.

He considered it for a second before agreeing. “That’s probably for the best. Be careful, though. His son has no idea,” he told her with him not wanting to lose his temper in his recently heightened emotional state as his thoughts called back to what happened when Bella and Esme left the kitchen earlier.

Bella sighed. “You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be back around dusk.”

“You don’t have to leave…”

“I do, and after you get rid of them – you still have to prepare Charlie to meet your new boyfriend,” Edward had indicted the unwelcome guests but tried not to share his opinion on the matter with her, because of course Billy had grown up with Charlie and he didn’t think Bella would understand why there was so much caution.

Bella groaned. “Thanks a lot.”

He didn’t let her lack of enthusiasm dampen his as this was a human experience that he’d never had before and for Bella to declare him to his father – it made him flash her a smile, a lopsided grin that would always seem to cheer her up. “I’ll be back soon.”

Edward looked to see if Billy was still staring at them and he saw that the man was staring at them intently, then he kissed Bella on the cheek, knowing he could have kissed her on her lips; but he thought that was enough for Billy and Jacob to see. The shock that crossed Billy’s face was amusing at least to Edward as was the grip that he held on the armrests of his wheelchair.

“Soon.” Bella reiterated, as she exited the silver car and rushed through the drizzle to the porch with him watching her carefully as she greeted Billy and Jacob, telling them that Charlie was gone for the day and watched the three go inside the house before he pulled out from the curb as he kept the engine on and drove off.

Once he arrived home, he noticed Emmett sitting on the long corner sofa in the living room adjoined to the kitchen, watching television with Hermione sitting on the opposite end with a book in her hand, not even looking up when he entered.

“You’re coming to play, right?” Emmett asked him, having not been told by Alice if their brother was joining them for the game and he did glance warily towards Hermione whose eyes flickered before her attention was back on the book she was reading.

“Yes. Can I borrow your Jeep to drive Bella to the field or at least as close as I can get it?” Edward asked him, as his attention turned to his brother rather than his sister who didn’t even make a comment in her mind; as she was making it hard for him to read her thoughts.

“Sure, the keys should be in the garage or wherever they were put when I dropped it off. I guess if she’s going to the game, then Hermione didn’t scare her off.”

Edward grimaced as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that her jaw clenched, though she was trying hard to focus on the page that she was reading with him noticing how she hadn’t even turned the page yet, which meant her attention was on them rather than the book.

“She’s remarkably resilient. How is Rosalie?”

_Rose is fine. She’s better at dealing with this than Hermione is, right now. Although, she does seem to take it personal and I don’t quite see what Isabella’s done to her._

Edward nodded. “What are you reading?” he asked her, being curious as Alice and Jasper entered the kitchen as they had been somewhere else in the house when they realised that their brother had come back with Hermione looking up at him.

“The Tale of the Three Brothers,” answered Hermione with him scrunching his eyebrows up as he had once asked her what the Tales of Beedle the Bard was about and had been surprised when she launched into an explanation about the tales inside the book.

“That’s the one about the three… _Peverell_ brothers, right?” he asked her, hoping that it would ease some tension between them, as he was still sore about how direct she had been with Bella earlier and how she had made Bella’s heart spike when she explained about her power – without even revealing something about her magic.

“Yes.”

Alice was the first to reach them, standing on the step above with her having hesitated as she thought her sister would tell him more; but she merely went back to reading and Emmett had gone back to watching the program.

“Are you heading upstairs?” Jasper asked him, as Alice was silent, not having come to talk to him like he thought as she moved past him and sat down next to Emmett who shifted a little, so she could have more space if she wanted to put her feet up.

“Yes. I need to make some preparations, and of course get changed…”  He muttered, casting one last look at his three siblings as he told Jasper that he could join him and the two left the living room, going through the kitchen and went up the stairs in silence.

“I don’t understand how you do it,” said Jasper, as his thoughts went back to the moment when he and Alice went into Edward’s room, with him wondering if he could have resisted like his brother did before he shook his head.

“Was Alice worried?”

“No.”

Edward was surprised at the answer with them having a short discussion how it was going to be different with her around and Jasper told him in his thoughts how happy he was that Emmett and Hermione made the trip back from Cambridge to come see them. As it could be months before they got the opportunity again; as they had to settle into living over there and studying in Cambridge, with it being revealed to Edward that they planned to stay at least until Monday morning, then they would leave.

It wasn’t long until Edward went to see Esme and Carlisle, both were in the library instead of the study and Esme immediately greeted him with a hug and a warm smile, as she shared her thoughts about the day to him – being grateful for the time she had shared with Bella already and hoped to get more.

“What did she think of us?” she inquired out-loud as Carlisle remained silent, watching the exchange even though concern etched across his face as he was worried about what Bella thought about the _altercation_ in the kitchen earlier.

“She wasn’t afraid of you, any of you…” It didn’t take long for him to reassure them that he didn’t think the situation earlier affected her too much, though it would have given her more to think about and a perspective from someone else.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The conversation went on for quite a while, some of it being through thoughts and him answering them out-loud or they had a full conversation out-loud as the others were doing as they pleased around the house with Rosalie being in the garage and Jasper was spending time with Hermione – discussing something as Alice and Emmett spent some time together watching a television program.

Eventually, he had to leave to go and meet Charlie for the first time as Bella’s boyfriend and he told all of them that he would see them at the field with Bella before having gone down to the garage, collecting the keys to the Jeep from Rosalie and got in, making sure to buckle himself in – not that he needed to.

He backed the Jeep out of the garage, reversing carefully and then turned the Jeep around with it feeling strange to drive the vehicle down the drive as no one had touched it except for Rosalie when she was fixing a part for it since Emmett had brought it from Seattle.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is where I’m going to leave the chapter, I know it’s something I don’t really do on the ending except for cliff-hangers. But it’s like 11,330+ words on this word document and it’s taken a while to write. I know this might need editing, but at least it’s posted. Thank you so much for your time and your dedication to reading this story. If you have any comments or suggestions on what you would like to see - Please, review. – Devil.


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